KEPOKTS
OF THE
CAMBRIDGE ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION
TO
TORRES STRAITS
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KEPOKTS
OF THE
CAMBBIDGE ANTHKOPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION
TO
TOEEES STEAITS
.VOLUME VI
SOCIOLOGY, MAGIC AND EELIGION
OF THE
EASTERN ISLANDERS
CAMBRIDGE:
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
1908
©amtm&gc :
FEINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A.
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
PBEFACE
AT the request of certain friends this account of the Sociology, Magic and Religion
•*•*• of the Eastern Islanders of Torres Straits is published as Volume vi. of the
Reports, before issuing Volumes I. and IV., and as a consequence the index to the whole
series cannot appear in this volume. The next volume to be published will be Volume iv.,
which will deal with the material and aesthetic life of the natives, and Volume I., which
will follow later, will contain a summary of our main results and an index, in addition to
a detailed account of the physical characters of the Torres Straits Islanders.
The following is the system of spelling which has been adopted :
d as aw in " saw "
u as oo in " soon "
it as in " up "
ai as in " aisle "
ait as ow in " cow "
ei as ay in " may "
oi as oy in " boy "
a as in "father"
a as in "at"
e as a in "date"
e as in " let "
e as ai in "air"
i as ee in "feet"
I as in "it"
o as in " own "
The consonants are sounded as in English.
A. C. HADDON.
May, 1908.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME VI
PAGE
INTRODUCTION. BY A. C. HADDON xvii
I. FOLK-TALES. BY A. C. HADDON !
II. GENEALOGIES. BY W. H. R. RIVERS .... 64
III. KINSHIP. BY W. H. R. RIVERS ... 92
IV. PERSONAL NAMES. BY W. H. R. RIVERS 102
V. BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD CUSTOMS, AND LIMITATION OF
CHILDREN. BY A. C. HADDON 105
VI. COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE. BY A. C. HADDON ... 112
VII. THE REGULATION OF MARRIAGE. BY W. H. R. RIVERS . . 120
VIII. FUNERAL CEREMONIES. BY C. S. MYERS AND A. C. HADDON . . 126
IX. PROPERTY AND INHERITANCE. BY THE LATE A. WILKIN . . 163
X. SOCIAL ORGANISATION. By W. H. R. RIVERS . ... 169
XI. TRADE. BY A. C. HADDON ... 185
XII. QUARRELS AND WARFARE. BY A. C. HADDON . 189
XIII. MAGIC. BY A. C. HADDON 192
XIV. RELIGION. BY A. C. HADDON . . ... 241
THE CULT OF BOMAI AND MALU. BY A. C. HADDON AND C. S. MYERS 281
MYTHICAL BEINGS. BY A. C. HADDON 314
LIST OF FIGUKES IN THE TEXT
FIG.
1. Drawing of the Tagai constellation by Mariget . . 4
2. Drawing of Tagai and Kareg in their canoe by Gizu . 4
3. Sketch of Pepker. Cambridge 5
4. Sketch of Kultut 12
5. Native drawing of Kultut on a stone top. Cambridge . 12
6. Native drawing of Meidu on a stone top. Cambridge . 15
7. Native drawing of a king-fish, geigi . . 18
8. Native drawing of Nageg on a stone top. Cambridge . 19
9. Sketch of the hill Gelam .... 25
10. Native drawing of a spiny lobster, kaier . . .35
11. A ka mat. Cambridge ..... .36
12. Sketch of the Malu shark placed on logs . . 43
13. Native drawing of Wakai and Kuskus on a top. Cambridge .... 51
14. Scarification, kebi neur koima ..... . 154
15. „ au iwurra tugar koima .... .... 155
16. „ au neurra nano dub koima .... .... 156
17. „ isi koima ...... ..... 156
18. „ neurra tole dup ...... .... 156
19. Widow wearing mourning costume .... ..... 157
20. Male relative in mourning costume ..... .... 158
21. Doiom with long projection from mouth. Dresden . . . .197
22. Biyo used for rain-making. Cambridge . . . . . . . . . 197
23. Doiom used for raising a wind. Cambridge . . ..... 197
24. Kerker keber, or bamboo clapper. Cambridge . . . .• . . . 199
25. Waiwa lag le • . . 204
26. Sketch of the head of a waiwa lag le by Pasi . . .... 205
27. Sketch of an alag le by Pasi , 205
28. Tobacco charm. Cambridge .... . 208
29. „ „ .... 208
30. „ „ 208
31. „ Oxford 208
32. Sketch of the Nauareb zogo 210
33. Bigo used in turtle ceremonies. Cambridge ......... 213
34. Decorated zogo baur at the head of a turtle .......... 215
35. Lag zogo le . . .219
LIST OF FIGURES IN THE TEXT. ix
FIG.
•
PAGE
36.
Neur madub, love charm in the form of a man. Cambridge ....
222
37.
Head end of an omaiter, or sorcery harpoon. Cambridge ....
224
38.
» 5J It >» ....
224
39.
!! !! )) )> ....
224
40.
„ „ ,, British Museum
224
41.
Maid le operating with a saibri lu .........
228
42.
Saibri lu, image of a crocodile used in sorcery. Cambridge ....
229
43.
Kodal, image of a crocodile. Cambridge
229
44.
Waridub maid lu, hawk-headed sorcery stick .......
230
45.
„ „ „ British Museum
230
46.
Madub, effigy of a man used in sorcery. Cambridge .....
232
47.
235
48.
Models of gelar signs, wis, for the Malu ceremonies. Cambridge .
247
49.
249
50.
Ground plan of Tomog zogo . . . • .
262
51.
Lamar^marik, decorated skull used in divination. Cambridge ....
267
52.
A diviner with a lamar-marik ..........
268
53.
Restoration of the Beizam, shrine
270
54.
Native drawing of a meket mask .........
274
55.
,, ,, .........
274
56.
Zogo le and taini le of the meket sarik ........
275
57.
Model of a mask worn at the meket sarik. Cambridge .....
276
58.
288
59.
Sketch of a model of the Bomai mask. Cambridge .....
290
60.
Native drawing of the Bomai mask .........
290
61.
Cardboard model of the Malu mask. Cambridge . ...
291
62.
The Malu mask as drawn by a native
291
63.
Sketch by Wanu of the Malu mask ... . .
291
64.
Daumer lub worn by the ume le. Cambridge .
292
65.
Portion of a strand of a kus wak worn by the kesi. Cambridge .
293
66.
Sauad, an artificially deformed boar's tusk worn as an ornament. Cambridge
294
67.
Sauad with tally notches. Cambridge .... . .
294
68.
Zogo kadik, ceremonial arm guard. Cambridge
295
69.
Ground plan of the shrine at Dam ......
304
70.
Rattle made of gda nuts used by Magur. Cambridge
312
MAPS
Sketch Map of Torres Straits xvi
Sketch Map of Mer . 170
Sketch Map of Dauar and Waier .....
LIST OF PLATES
B., A. c. H., A. H., c. 8. M., H. o., A. w. signify that the photographs were taken respectively by
Dr Bansall, of Cambridge, A. C. Haddon, Miss A. Kingston, H. Oldland, of the British
Museum, C. S. Myers, A. Wilkin.
PLATE I. Fig. 1. Sorkar, a fish shrine. A. c. H. (pp. 42, 217).
Fig. 2. Part of the island of Waier with warip pinnacles. A. w. (pp. 26 — 28).
Fig. 3. Geigi's fish-spear. A. w. (p. 18).
Fig. 4. Waipem, a turtle shrine. A. w. (p. 216).
PLATE II. Fig. 1. The Iruam stone. A. c. H. (p. 8).
Fig. 2. Sai, or tish wiers. A. c. H. (pp. 27, 28, 218).
Fig. 3. The Meidu stone. A. w. (p. 15).
Fig. 4. The canoe of Abob. A. w. (p. 26).
PLATE III. Fig. 1. Gawer's place. A. w. (p. 28).
Fig. 2. Gawer and her treasures (cf. pi. VI. fig. 4). A. w. (p. 28).
Fig. 3. Sewereat u zogo, a coco-nut shrine. A. w. (pp. 26, 28, 206).
Fig. 4. Enau zogo, the shrine of the wild plum (cf. pi. XIII. fig. 10). A. w. (p. 203).
PLATE IV. Fig. 1. Irado and her basket. A. w. (pp. 50 — 52).
Fig. 2. The Barat stone at Kingob. A. c. H. (p. 42).
Fig. 3. The shrine of Zabaker. A. c. H. (p. 20).
Fig. 4. Ai geres and her basket. Cambridge. A. w. (p. 212).
PLATE V. Fig. 1. Pager in front of the village of Sebeg, the zero, markai are seen in the
distance, c. s. M. (p. 133).
Fig. 2. The Au kosker in their cave. A. w. (p. 279).
Fig. 3. Ziai neur, the South-west girl. A. w. (pp. 5, 56).
Fig. 4. The Markep stone. A. w. (p. 56).
PLATE VI. Fig. 1. Kol. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 11).
Fig. 2. Ter-pipi, Ter-seberseber. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 8).
Fig. 3. Stone top illustrating the story of Geigi. A. w. (pp. 16, 17).
Fig. 4. Gawer (cf. pi. III. figs. 1, 2). Cambridge. A. H. (p. 28).
Figs. 5, 6. Front and back view of Kaperkaper. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 53).
Fig. 7. The ager plant. A. w. (pp. 2, 6, 9, 11).
PLATE VII. Figs. 1 — 3. Skull of a fish, gwa lar, carved out of coral; right three-quarter
front, left side and front views. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 234).
Fig. 4. Skull of one of the Carangidse, probably a Seriola (p. 234).
Fig. 5. Pepker. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 5).
Fig. 6. Head of a zole. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 235).
LIST OF PLATES.
XI
PLATE VIII.
PLATE IX.
PLATE X.
PLATE XI.
PLATE XII.
PLATE XIII.
PLATE XIV.
PLATE XV.
Fig. 1. "Dugena," Gasu's doiom, or Rain-charm. Cambridge. A. w. (pp. 194, 195).
Fig. 2. Rain shrine. A. w. (p. 199).
Figs. 1 — 5. Doiom, or rain-charms. 1, 2, 4 Cambridge ; 3, 5 British Museum.
A. H. (p. 194).
Fig. 6. Gasu and his rain shrine, the doiom is tied on to a post. A. w. (p. 195).
Fig. 7. Banana leaf package containing doiom and lukup. A. w. (p. 198).
Fig. 1. Head of Kudar. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 22).
Fig. 2. Tik, a garden charm. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 212).
Fig. 3. Tik, in a basket. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 212).
Fig. 4. Sabi, sign of taboo. British Museum. H. o. (p. 249).
Fig. 5. „ „ Cambridge. A. H. (p. 249).
Figs. 6 — 8. Yam stones, lewer kep. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 212).
Figs. 9 — 13. Sorcery stones, wiwar. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 234).
Figs. 1, 2. Rain charms, doiom. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 194).
Fig. 3. Rain charm, doiom, "Serpaker." Cambridge. A. H. (pp. 194, 195).
Figs. 4 — 7. Rain charms, doiom. Cambridge. A. H. (pp. 194, 195).
Figs. 1—3. Fire charms, layer. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 202).
Fig. 4. „ „ British Museum. H. o. (p. 202).
Fig. 5. ,, „ British Museum. A. H. (p. 202).
Fig. 6. „ „ Cambridge. A. H. (p. 202).
Figs. 7, 8. „ (Volcanic bombs.) Cambridge. A. H. (p. 202).
Fig. 9. Zole from Kimkop. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 235).
Fig. 1. Tabu, or Snake charm, to kill rats. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 220).
Figs. 2, 3. Birobiro zogo, Yam charms. Cambridge. B. (p. 211).
Fig. 4. Naror birobiro zogo, Yarn charm. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 211).
Fig. 5. Sokop madub, Tobacco charm. British Museum. H. o. (p. 209).
Figs. 6—8. „ „ „ „ (p. 207).
Fig. 9. Lewer kep zogo, Yam charm. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 212).
Fig. 10. "Basket of fruit" from the Enau zogo (cf. pi. III. fig. 4). Cambridge.
A. H. (p. 203).
Fig. 11. Ketai kep zogo, Yam charm. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 212).
Fig. 1. A garden zole, carved to represent a face. Cambridge. A. H. (pp. 212, 213).
Fig. 2. Uris kerem, head of turtle, a sorcery stone. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 234).
Fig. 3. Mokeis, for destruction of gardens by rats. ,, B. (p. 220).
Fig. 4. Magical stone of uncertain use. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 235).
Fig. 5. Aiget, a garden zole, front view. „ „ (pp. 212, 213).
Fig. 6. „ „ back view. „ „ „
Figs. 1, 2. Zero, markai. c. s. M. (p. 134).
Figs. 3, 4. Kaketut, Present of food. c. s. M. (p. 119).
PLATE XVI. Figs. 1 — 5, 7 — 10, 16. Various forms of the turtle-shell ornaments, sabagorar,
worn by brides. British Museum. H. o. (p. 114).
Fig. C. Turtle-shell fish-hook, from the form of which it is supposed that these
ornaments were derived. British Museum. H. o. (p. 114).
xn
LIST OF PLATES.
PLATE XVI. Figs. 11 — 14. Ter or luper, Turtle-shell bodkins, worn by brides. British
(continued) Museum, u. o. (p. 114).
Figs. 15 — 20. 0, triangular, white, shell pendants 'worn by brides and married
women. Cambridge (p. 114).
Figs. 21 — 23. Fish-bone pendants worn by brides aud married women. Cam-
bridge (p. 114).
PLATE XVII. Fig. 1. The Malu drum, "Wasikor," and two Malu stone-headed clubs. A. w.
(p. 296).
Fig. 2. Zogo kudik, ceremonial arm guard. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 296).
Figs. 3, 4. „ „ „ Dresden. „ „
Fig. 5. Belt of Job's tears, antennae of crayfish and wadai beans worn by the
kesi. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 292).
Fig. 6. Chest pendant worn by the kesi. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 292).
Fig. 7. Nasi tiauad. British Museum. H. o. (p. 295).
Fig. 8. Human lower-jaw with tassel of Job's tears, worn in connection with
the Bomai-Malu ceremony. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 294).
Fig. 9. Stone club used by the zogo le to strike the kesi. Cambridge. A. H.
(p. 311).
PLATE XVIII. Fig. 1. Mummy of an infant from Uga. Berlin (p. 137).
Fig. 2. „ a child „ „ „
Fig. 3. Pop le op, funeral mask, front view. British Museum. H. o. (p. 135).
Fig. 4. „ „ side view. „ „
Fig. 5. Bud lu, memorials of deceased husband, worn by his widow : A, a bundle
of ked, one of the last things handled by the deceased; B, two objects,
one representing the length of his nose, the other that of his index finger ;
C, objects representing the length of his arm .bones, and D, that of his
leg bones. All these objects are models, no actual specimens exist at the
present day. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 158).
PLATE XIX. Fig. 1. Wag zogo, Wind zogo, showing the neiu stone. A. w. (p. 201).
Fig. 2. „ men in act of raising a wind. A. w. (p. 201).
Fig. 3. Shrine and stones representing islands in the sacred ground at Dam.
A. c. H. (p. 303).
Fig. 4. Ziai neur. A. w. (p. 235).
PLATE XX. Figs. 1, 2. Lar, Fish charms. Glasgow (p. 217).
Fig. 3. Gwis, broken off head of a fish charm. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 218).
Fig. 4. Garom, Fish charm. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 218).
Figs. 5 — 7. Deyer, Dugong charms. British Museum, o. H. (p. 217).
Fig. 8. Deger, Dugong charm. Cambridge. B. (p. 217).
Figs. 9, 10. Side and front view of the siriam nam zole, Turtle charm.
Cambridge. A. H. (p. 216).
PLATE XXI. Fig. 1. Model of the shrine of Waiet. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 278).
Fig. 2. Model of a saibri lu, Image of a crocodile used in sorcery. Cambridge.
A. H. (p. 229).
Figs. 3, 4. Omabar, Love charms. Cambridge. B. (p. 221).
LIST OF PLATES.
XIII
PLATE XXI. Fig. 5. Omabar, Love charm. British Museum. H. o. (p. 221).
(continued) Fig. 6. Side and under views of an omaltar. Cambridge (p. 221).
Fig. 7. Kog lu, Love charm. Cambridge (p. 221).
Fig. 8. „ „ „ A. H. (p. 221).
Figs. 9, 10. Neur madub, Love charm. British Museum. H. o. (p. 222).
Figs. 11, 12. Zogo baur for turtle ceremony. Glasgow (p. 215).
Fig. 13. Pagi, Wooden image of a sea-snake, used as a sign of taboo. British
Museum. H. o. (p. 249).
PLATE XXII. Figs. 1, 2. Isau mani, Wooden figures coated with wax, representing a man
and a woman, used in malevolent magic. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 231).
Fig. 3. Ganomi, model of ad giz. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 258).
Fig. 4. Ginamai, „ „ „ „
Fig. 5. Bom, „ „ „ „
Fig. 6. Image of Waiet. Cambridge. A. H. (p. 277).
Fig. 7. Model of a Dogai mask used in the Dogaira wetpur. Cambridge.
A. H. (p. 209).
PLATE XXIII. Fig. 1. Ne on Waier. A. w. (pp. 15, 18, 277—278).
Fig. 2. Sandbeach of Las. A. w. (p. 308).
Figs. 3, 4. Tomog zogo, A. w. (p. 261).
PLATE XXIV. Fig. 1. Chest ornament worn by the geregere le. Glasgow (p. 295).
Fig. 2. „ „ „ Cambridge. A. H. (p. 295).
Fig. 3. „ „ „ British Museum. H. o. (p. 295).
Fig. 4. Turtle-shell pendant representing a sting ray, tapim. Oxford (p. 256).
Fig. 5. Painting on a stone top representing a man wearing a fish-mask.
Cambridge. A. H. (p. 256).
Figs. 6, 7. Wooden model of a shark, side and upper view. Liverpool (p. 256).
PLATE XXV.
Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Malu Dances, the Dog men advancing. A. w. (p. 308).
„ the Pigeon men advancing. A. w. (p. 309).
„ the Dog and Pigeon men performing. A. w. (p. 309).
,, the revolving dance of the Beizam boai and Zaga/reb le.
A. w. (p. 309).
PLATE XXVI.
PLATE XXVII.
Fig. 1. The Ceremony at Las (p. 308).
Fig. 2. Murray Islanders eager for barter, from an engraving by H. Melville
(Voyage of H, M.S. "Fly," Vol. I. p. 133).
Fig. 1. Heap of Malu le, drawn by Pasi (p. 313).
Fig. 2. Terer (p. 132).
Fig. 3. Tur siriam le, drawn by a native (p. 143).
Fig. 4. Terei mask of a Tur siriam le, drawn by a native (p. 143).
Fig. 5. Tur siriam le, drawn by a native (p. 143).
Fig. 6. Bud lu, consisting of a pit tonar and boar's tusk (p. 158).
H. Vol. VI.
XIV LIST OF PLATES.
PLATE XXVIII. Fig. 1. Rehearsal of dirge on the occasion of the death of a Malu zogo le.
A. w. (p. 145).
Fig. 2. Decorated skull, as used for divination. British Museum. H. o.
(pp. 126, 148, 268).
Figs. 3, 4. Witvar, Sorcery stone. British Museum. H. o. (p. 234).
Fig. 5. Crescentic ornament worn in a war-dance. Truro (p. 277).
Fig. 6. Turtle-shell mask of uncertain provenance. Oxford (p. 289).
PLATE XXIX. Figs. 1 — 3. Three phases of the Ceremonial Dance of the Bomai-Malu zogo
le (pp. 306, 307).
PLATE XXX. Restoration of the Initiation Ceremony of the Bomai-Malu Cult (p. 306).
ERRATA
p. 26, line 19, for 'south-east' read 'south.'
p. 39, footnote 3, for Bezam read Beizam.
p. 42, lines 18, 22, for 'Ger' read ' Gep.'
p. 56, line 17, Damid or Damud, Mr Bruce spells it either way.
p. 101, line 4 from bottom, for 112 read 118.
p. 143, line 29, for eras ia read erosia.
p. 153, 1st par., Nesur atparek or atperik, "petticoat on both sides."
p. 154, line 12, for baba lam read babalam.
MAP OF
TORRES STRAITS
Statute Miles
20 30 40 SO
INTRODUCTION.
BY A. C. HADDON.
THE Eastern Islanders of Torres Straits inhabit the volcanic islands of Uga (Stephen's
Island), Erub (Darnley Island), and the three Murray Islands, Mer, Dauar and Waier.
They speak the same language and practically regard themselves as one people, though
there does not appear to have been very much communication of late between the
Miriam of the Murray Islands and the Erub le and Uga le. In former times there was
occasional communication between the Miriam and the inhabitants of the nearer central
islands. Most of the latter are now uninhabited, and it is probably quite impossible to
discover anything about their past history.
There are a few persons living on Uga, but they have not been studied. The
fine island of Erub is now mainly peopled by natives of various South Sea islands,
most of the men having married Erub women. There are still a few unmixed aborigines
on the island, but they have become so modified by contact with Europeans and other
foreigners that, I believe, very little of their original lore remains. At all events we
were not able to investigate them, and it is most likely that their former customs
and beliefs will never be recorded. What little is known about these people is due
to the visits of Jukes (Voyage of H.M.S. "Fly," 1847, Vol. I. pp. 169—194, 208—210,
244—261), D'Albertis (New Guinea, 1881, Vol. I. pp. 236—242), and a few remarks by
the Missionaries, W. Wyatt Gill, A. W. Murray, and S. MacFarlane.
The Murray Islands owing to their relative inaccessibility and their comparatively
large population offer a better field for research. One or two Europeans and South
Sea men lived there at various times before it became the headquarters of the London
Missionary Society. Mataika, a Samoan teacher of the L.M.S., crossed over from Erub
in 1872 to evangelise the Miriam (p. 265). In 1877 the Rev. Dr S. MacFarlane removed
the headquarters of the Mission to Mer, and two years later he established the
" Papuan Industrial School and Teachers' Seminary," an institution which had for its
XV111 INTRODUCTION.
object the teaching and training of young people from various islands of Torres Straits
and from the neighbouring coasts of New Guinea. The " Papuan Institute," as it was
more generally termed, began with over sixty young men and boys, they were instructed
in the English language, and more than twenty were sufficiently trained to become
native teachers, most of whom went as evangelists to New Guinea (cf. Among the
Cannibals of New Guinea, by Rev. S. MacFarlane, LL.D. London, 1888, pp. 81 — 91).
Mrs MacFarlane spent some years on the island teaching the girls. Under the skilful
management of Mr Robert Bruce, who had been a yacht-builder of Glasgow, the
Industrial School was a great success. Besides building and furnishing houses, a twenty-
ton yacht, the " Mary," was built of local timber by the natives under his direction,
and the fittings and the necessary smith's work were also done on the spot. The
Industrial School ceased operations when Dr MacFarlane left in 1886. The Rev. and
Mrs A. E. Hunt arrived in 1887 and left in 1890. Since then the church has been
under the sole direction of a Samoan teacher.
I spent five months on Mer in 1888 — 89, being mainly engaged in zoological
investigations, and made many friends among the natives. The ethnological information
I then collected was of too fragmentary a nature to be worth publishing as a whole,
but I published two folk-tales, " The legend of Malu " [Bomai] and " Nam Zogo " in
Folk-Lore (Vol. i. 1890, pp. 181, 186), and an account of various ceremonies, including
the initiation ceremony and Malu dances of the Bomai-Malu cult in the Internationales
Archiv fur Ethnographic (Bd. vi. 1893, pp. 131 — 162). The present volume supersedes
the earlier publications. I purposely did not investigate the Miriam with much detail
as my friend, the Rev. A. E. Hunt, the resident missionary, had promised me that
he would do so. Mr Hunt published a paper on " Ethnographical Notes on the Murray
Islands, Torres Straits," in the Journal of the Anthropological Institute (Vol. xxviu.
1899, pp. 5 — 18). Those of his observations which we were able to corroborate have
been incorporated in this volume, but in some instances he misunderstood what his
informants endeavoured to tell him.
Our party reached Mer on May 6, 1898, and we left on September 8 in the same
year, but all of us were not on the island during the whole of that period.
At the time of our visit the islanders had been under Mission influence for about
twenty-five years ; and practically all the adult natives were professed Christians and
all the younger ones had been to school. Shortly before the departure of the Hunts,
Mr John Bruce was appointed schoolmaster under the auspices of the Queensland
Government, and since then has most successfully taught the Miriam children.
It might be urged that owing to missionary and other influences the condition
of the Murray Islanders has been so modified that ethnological investigations must
have a very uncertain value. An objection of this kind is more specious than real.
INTRODUCTION. xix
Mission influence could scarcely have made a serious impression on the natives till
about 1880. I do not know when the last Bomai-Malu ceremony was held, possibly
about 1875. Men who were thirty to forty years old then, were alive not only in
1888 but in 1898 ; and since initiation took place at adolescence, there must have
been many men who were conversant with the ceremonies at the time of my two visits.
Though this particular custom may have died out many years ago, the memory of it
was green. One can never tell to what extent maimed portions of old ceremonies may
have persisted long after they have been supposed by missionaries to have been eradicated.
Indeed we know that this has occurred in the case of many of the smaller ceremonies
of the Miriam, and even now all has not yet quite disappeared.
Usage relating to kinship, inheritance, the regulation of marriage, and other aspects
of native social life would not be affected directly by the white man. The change in
economic conditions, owing to the presence of foreigners, is by no means so marked in
the Murray Islands as it is in the Western Islands. Therefore we feel confident that
our accounts describe the original social conditions with a fair degree of accuracy.
Our greatest difficulty was naturally with customs related to magic and religion.
Not only had a good deal disappeared from actual practice, but there was a re-
luctance on the part of the natives to talk about certain subjects, partly because
the latter were originally of a secret or sacred character (and the native even now is
very reticent about such matters), partly because he has been taught that he ought
to be ashamed of the past ; not that he really is, but he believes that the white man
expects that he should be, and therefore his natural tendency is at first to plead
ignorance. Even the profession of Christianity does not make all the difference that
one might at first sight think it would. I am under the impression that the most
moral and pious heathen are the most likely to be attracted by a higher form of
social order and religion. These are just the men that have a strong sense of reticence
and of the sacredness of religious customs ; in changing their beliefs and customs, their
attitude of mind would remain much the same, and they would not be disposed to
treat lightly that which had previously meant so much to them. Nor must one overlook
the necessity of reticence with regard to secret matters which was learnt in the impres-
sionable age of youth and enforced through the fear of punishment by means of sorcery,
or by spiritual or other agencies.
Even with good intentions and a friendly disposition on the part of the native
there were many difficulties in the way of getting information which are familiar to
those who have had experience in similar investigations. We communicated by means
of jargon English, which, owing to the school instruction most of the natives had
undergone, was not of so crude a character as is generally the case, and precision was
given to the statements of the natives by a copious use of native words and phrases.
XX INTRODUCTION.
We naturally took ordinary precautions to check one informant by another. But in
spite of all our efforts this volume would have presented a very different appearance
had we not had the ungrudging assistance of Mr John Bruce. For a decade he had
lived on the island in intimate association with the people — young and old. Under
all conditions of life, from birth to death, in joy, sorrow, or perplexity, one and all
appeal to "Jack," and never in vain. Mr Bruce has placed his intimate knowledge of
the people entirely at our disposal, both when we were neighbours in Mer and since
we returned to England, and on behalf of myself and my colleagues I take this
opportunity to thank him heartily for all he has done for us and for science.
I. FOLK-TALES.
BY A. C. HADDON.
I HAVE little to add to the remarks I made on pp. 9 and 10 of Volume V. of these
Reports. Further experience has confirmed me in the opinion that with ordinary care
these tales may be accepted as trustworthy ethnographical documents, and as such they
will be dealt with in this Volume.
Altogether sixty-nine titles of folk-tales are presented in these two Volumes, but in
reality they represent a larger number of tales, for in some cases, tales that were told
by themselves have been connected together, as, for example, in the story of Abob
and Kos, where the Gawer and Warip episodes were told independently by some
informants, while others strung them together with the other incidents as in the story
here given ; so too, with the story of Sida and the Malu saga. On the other hand,
I have various imperfect narratives that are probably fragments of more connected tales,
or which might have become such in process of time. I know that various other tales
exist both among the Eastern and Western Islanders, but I hope that those I have
collected are sufficiently representative of native thought and expression. I have often
retained in the tales the actual phrases of jargon English in which my informants
narrated them to me — these are generally indicated by single inverted commas. Every
simile or idea I have employed in the tales is a native expression.
The following tales or incidents in tales of the Eastern and Western Islanders are
sufficiently alike to prove community of origin :
"Tagai and his Crew" (vi. 3) and the Togai incidents in "The Saga of Kwoiam"
(v. 67-70).
"Sida" (vi. 19) and "Sida, the Bestower of Vegetable Food" (v. 28, 29, 32, 36).
" Gelam " (vi. 23) and " Gelam " (v. 38-40).
" How Karom the Lizard stole Fire from Serkar " (vi. 29) and " The Origin of
Fire" (v. 17).
"The Coming of Bomai " (vi. 33) and "The Origin-Myth of the Hammer-headed
Shark and Crocodile Totems of Yam" (v. 64-66).
" The Coming of Barat " (vi. 40) and " How Bia introduced fishing with the
Sucker-fish into the Islands" (v. 44-46).
As a general rule, when there is close similarity, it looks as if the Eastern Islanders
had borrowed from the Western. Stories current among both groups of people may
H. Vol. VI. 1
2 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
however in some cases be due to a common origin ; at present we cannot settle this
point, as we have no collections of folk-tales from the Cape York peninsula, or from
the neighbouring coast of New Guinea.
Although the main incidents in the " Discovery of the Use of Coco-nuts as Food" (vi. 52)
and "The Stranding of the First Coco-nut on Muralug" (v. 103, 104) are similar, the tales
may be independent. There are also various incidents in a large number of Eastern
and Western tales that bear a general resemblance to one another, but these are
merely the result of the two groups of people being in the same stage of culture.
It is worthy of note that in tales of Iruam (p. 6), the Ti Birds (p. 9), and
Kultut (p. 11) the girls cooked an ager in an earth-oven, ame, which food is now
rarely eaten. Can it be that these tales date back to a time before the cultivation
of yams and sweet-potatoes, when the islanders were merely collectors of food ?
If this be granted some of the folk-tales may be classified chronologically as follows :
1. The Peopling of the Murray Islands.
Pop and Kod.
2. The Collecting Stage of Culture.
Iruam, the Ti Birds, Kultut.
3. The Introduction of Cultivation.
Sida, Gelam.
4. The Introduction of certain Ceremonies connected with Death.
Aukem and Terer.
5. The Introduction of the Bomai-Malu Cult.
The Malu Saga..
LIST OF FOLK-TALES.
Nature Myths : (Origin of Heavenly Bodies) 1. Tagai and his Crew. 2. Ilwel, the Evening Star.
(Hills) 3. Pepker, the Hill-Maker. ( Water-holes) 4. The Killing of Iruam. 5. The Ti Birds. (Rocks,
Trees and Animals) 6. Stones that once were Men. 7. Kol. 8. Kultut of the Long Arm. 9. Kiar,
who cut his Foot. 10. Meidu. 11. Nageg and Geigi.
Culture Myths: 12. Pop and Kod. 13. Sida. 14. Gelam. 15. Abob aud Kos. 16. How
Karom the Lizard stole Fire from Serkar. 17. Aukem and Terer.
Religious Myths : 18. The Malu Saga. 19. The Nam Zogo.
Tales about People : 20. Discovery of the Use of Coco-nuts as Food. 21. Kaperkaper, the
Cannibal. 22. Mokeis, the Greedy Man.
Comic Tale : 23. Markep and Sarkep.
The following tales were published in Vol. in. in the Miriam Language, with inter-
linear and free translations by Mr S. H. Ray: The Story of Nageg (p. 229), The Story
of Malo (p. 233), The Story of Meidu (p. 239), The Story of Iruam (p. 240), The Story
of Mokeis (p. 242), The Story of Markep and Sarkep (p. 244), The Story of Gelam
(p. 248), Tagai (p. 250).
FOLK-TALES. 3
Nature Myths.
1. TAGAI AND HIS CREW.
' One man, Tagai, he got a canoe. Tagai he stop in forehead (the bow or front
end of the canoe) and look out and spear fish. Kareg he stop in stern, he mate. Plenty
men1 crew, sit in middle.
'They go over reef; Kareg he pole canoe. Tagai he spear fish. Sun hot on reef,
all men thirsty, and steal water in canoe belong captain.
' Tagai say, " Why you no pole canoe good ? I no spear fish." By-and-by he say,
"Where water-bamboo?" He take bamboo and shake it; it empty; he say, "Who drink
water ?".
' Men no talk.
' Tagai get wild. He get one rope, gogob", and make fast round neck of six men
and chuck into sea. He put name to them, " All you fellow ' Usiam.' "
' Tagai take two wooden skewers, keps, and call other men in canoe, and kill plenty,
and stick the skewers through their necks and chuck them in the sea, and call
them " Seg."
' Kareg he live.
' Tagai tell Kareg, " You stop ; you no steal my water, you push canoe all time."
' Man stop in sky all the time.
' Tagai, Kareg, and canoe stop in one place, Usiam stop in another place, and Seg
stop in another place.'
Tagai (figs. 1 and 2) is a very large constellation that embraces Scorpio, Lupus,
Centaurus, Crux and Corvus, with part of Hydra and one star of Ara. It represents a
man, Tagai, standing in the fore part of a canoe (body and tail of Scorpio), brandishing
a pronged fishing-spear (Crux) in the left hand, and holding some fruit of the white-
berried Eugenia in the other uplifted hand (Corvus). Another man, Kareg (Antares,
a Scorpio), is in the stern of the canoe. In front of the canoe is the stone anchor
(a Arse) and below its bow is a sucker-fish, gep (t K X v Scorpii). Behind the canoe
is a fishing-reef (/3 v « 8 -IT p etc., Scorpii). Tagai himself is mainly composed of Centaurus
and Lupus, his eyes are v fj, and his mouth or chin (/>, two stars v ^ represent the
depression above the collar bone, 77 is the navel (unless it is the heart, which one
informant said was visible, in which case o Lupi would be the navel) ; all these stars
are in Centaurus. Tagai's left elbow is e Centauri and his right 7 Hydrae, K Centauri
and /3 Lupi are his testes according to some informants, or his knees according to
others, 8 e Lupi on the former view are his knees. I was informed that by the side
of Tagai are a number of small stars which are called collectively pirsok, " locusts."
The six men, Usiam, who were tied together, are the Pleiades, and those, Seg, who
were skewered, are the stars in alignment in Orion. The Tagai and associated con-
stellations are recognised alike by the Eastern and Western Islanders.
1 In Paul's version (Vol. ni. p. 250) these are described as " Seg and Usiam, two, two, two, two, two, two."
* A gogob is a ring of rope formerly used in fixing the mat sails ; " gromet " is the nautical equivalent.
3 A kep is a pointed stick which was used to skewer together the mats of which the sails were composed.
1—2
4 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
This tale is evidently a variant of the adventures of Togai (Tagai) and Koang
(Kareg), the maternal uncles of Kwoiam, the hero of Mabuiag, cf. Vol. v. pp. 67 — 69 ;
but future research must determine whether it is an essential part of the Kwoiam cycle,
or whether it has been added to it
Tagai is an important constellation, not only as an indication of the approach of
certain seasons, but also for navigation purposes. For example, I was told, " Usiam he
mek (that is, 'sign' or 'mark') for new yams." "Seg he mek next kind of yam."
When Usiam is some way from the horizon at sundown, men say, " Close up new
yam time," and when it is at the horizon at sunset, "Yam time he come."
FIG. 1. Drawing of the Tagai constellation
by Mariget of Mabuiag, reduced to J.
Flo. 2. Drawing of Tagai and Kareg in their canoe
by Gizu of Mabuiag, reduced by J. In this
drawing, the canoe, Kareg and the sucker-fish are
represented the wrong way round.
" Tagai he mek for turtle season. Two hand he come first ; all turtle go to islands
to leeward (to the West), and they (the natives) kaikai (eat) turtle first. By-and-by
face belong Tagai he come up; Dauar le (the inhabitants of Dauar and of the southern
end of Murray Island) get turtle, and then all the rest of Murray Island.
" Kareg he come last ; turtle rotten, meat inside good, skin of neck rotten and stink
and eaten by kuper (maggots)."
In sailing by night from Erub (Darnley Island) to Mer (Murray Island) they steer
for the left hand of Tagai, " right hand he stop outside Mer."
Further information about the constellations recognised by the Torres Straits
Islanders will be found in the section on Astronomy by Dr Rivers in Vol. iv.
2. ILWEL, THE EVENING STAR.
Ilwel is the evening star and the wife of the moon, Meb. Once a month they meet
and cohabit, then they quarrel and the moon leaves his wife, going further away every
night until the quarrel is patched up and they meet again, but only to quarrel once more.
For the magical beating of the Ilwel stone see chapter on Magic.
FOLK-TALES.
3. PEPKER, THE HILL-MAKER.
[Told by Debe Wali (26)1.]
Two old women named Pepker and Ziaino2 had a competition to see who could make
the larger hill. Ziaino made a small hill (Kebi Dauar) and called out, "You no finish ? I finish
now." Pepker called out, " I no finish now." Debe Wali ended the tale in these words,
" Make him, make him, make him that hill (Au Dauar), he [she] finish, he sing out,
'I finish now!'"
A stone effigy (fig. 3 and pi. VII. fig. 5) represents Pepker sitting down (so it was
explained to me), as if making a mat, but she is really making
Au Dauar ; but oddly enough her hands are behind her back ;
apparently the shape of the block of vesicular lava, in which
she is carved, determined the direction of the arms. It is a
roughly carved figure, 300 mm. high, in a crouching position,
with the face looking upwards ; the clavicles are indicated, but
no breasts ; the abdomen is prominent ; the arms are flexed
with the hands opposed to each other behind the back ; the
legs are bent. The figure is very much worn and the features
are almost indistinguishable. The different heights of the hills
Au Dauar and Kebi Dauar are seen in pi. I. fig. 1. Au
Dauar is 600 feet in height.
Debe Wali also gave me the following information about Fl0' 3' Sketch of Pepker'
Pepker, but I cannot make anything of it.
' Pepker he [she] stop at Eupe (Aupe or Igermuger), he want to take water to top
of hill. Two fellow [men] Paim and Naurnaur come and sing. Pepker fill up coco-nut
water- vessels. Two fellow got warup (drum) and sing
"Paimi Naurinauri ikidi ge aupreie."
Paim Naurnaur dig then both lie down.
'Two fellow come to Igermuger, lie down oh ground. Pepker take water-vessels,
come same place, Pepker got a big basket.'
4. THE KILLING OF IRUAM.
{Compiled from accounts of J. Bruce, Pasi (27), Enoka (18 A), and Mamai (16).]
Deiau, Ter-pipi and Ter-seberseber3 were three young women, who belonged to the
village of Mei, near Las, on the eastern side of Mer. They had no husbands, and they
did everything for themselves.
One evening Deiau was in the house, tidying up the place, and the other two were
1 The numbers* after the names of natives give their places in the Genealogical Tables.
2 It is possible this is the same as Ziai neur, pi. V. fig. 3.
3 In Pasi's version (Vol. in. p. 240) they are called Deo or Deu, Tepipi and Tisaber, and I have the latter
as Ter-sabersaber in one note.
6 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
getting ready their food, bode and ager1, to cook in the native oven, at a place called
Sager, on the plateau behind Mei. The food was all prepared, and Ter-pipi and Ter-
seberseber had put it on the hot stones, and they were just covering it up nicely with
earth on the top, and thinking what a fine meal it would be when it was cooked, when
they saw the moon (Meb), covered all over with croton leaves (wez\ approaching them,
coming up the rising ground on the plateau ; and Ter-pipi called out, " Sister ! look ! it
is coming up"."
They saw that the moon was coming to steal their food, so they took it away to
another oven, but the moon followed them : they removed it again and again to several
different ovens, and still the moon followed them, and they rebuked him for coming to
try to steal the food. At last they put it in an oven at Mepau, and when the moon
found that he could not get the food, he left the women and went away3. When
they saw him well away from the place, Ter-pipi said to Ter-seberseber, " Come along,
we will go down to see Deiau and get some water."
When they came to Mei, they found Deiau still cleaning up her place, and they asked
her to come along with them to Er, to get some water.
So Deiau, Ter-pipi and Ter-seberseber took their water-bottles (ni sor) with them
and went to Er.
When they arrived at Er, they went to a well named Kokaper pat, and first drank
some water and then began to fill up their vessels.
Deiau said she did not like the water, as it had been fouled by the men, so she
went on to another well at Aupat, in the rocky gully that forms part of Er pat. Deiau
filled her vessels at this well and the water made the noise of bub, bub, bub, as it gurgled
into the vessels. When they were full she was putting in the stoppers when she heard
a bub, bub, bub, sound coming from the well, and then a man emerged from it, making
this noise with his mouth.
He asked Deiau, " What is your name ? " She answered, " Deiau. What is yours ? "
He told her his name was Imam, and that this water-hole was his home, and he asked
Deiau to come into the hole with him and be his wife, but she said that she did not
want him4; he tried to catch her, but she picked up her water-bottles and ran away
home. The other two sisters had gone home before this without waiting for Deiau.
Deiau ran down Er pat, and Iruam followed, throwing stones at her5, and as the
tide was well out, Deiau took to the reef and ran there. One of Iruam's stones hit
one of Deiau's water-vessels and broke it, and she fell down in her fright and broke
the other one.
When Ter-pipi and Ter-seberseber reached the place called Wabkek, they looked
round and saw Deiau running and Iruam following her; "Hulloa," they cried, "there is
1 Bode = badi, an aroid. I have not been able to identify ager; it is an aroid, and the swollen edible part,
which for the sake of brevity I call a bulb, is more properly a tuberous rhizome. In common with many aroids
it probably contains a poisonous latex, which is dispelled by heat : hence the need for cooking. (PI. VI. fig. 7.)
2 " Le, das ipe ogi," i.e. "Sister! look there climbs."
3 According to one informant the moon actually did steal the food several times over, putting it in his big
basket.
4 One informant said, "They two do no good."
5 One informant said Iruam took a many-pronged spear, ubar tut.
FOLK-TALES. 7
Deiau, and Imam, too. What a fool Ueiau was to leave us and go to driuk at another
water-hole. We had better hurry home to our place."
They went off quickly and put their water safely away. Then they climbed up a
coco-nut tree and cut down the branched stalks (pesur, spadix) from which the nuts
depend : they tied them together quickly, one for themselves and one for Deiau, and
then they hurried off to her assistance.
By this time Deiau, followed by Imam, had run round the fish weir and had
arrived at Mei, and here the sisters met her. They gave her one of the branches and
they all attacked Iruam at once, beating him with their pesur till he was nearly dead
and he fell down on the beach of Las.
While he was lying on his back there, he made water from which was formed the
salt-water-hole named Warber1, and another hole named Goi2, and he threw one of his
testicles (waiwai gebb) into the hole called Warber, and then he turned round and
squirted water towards the sea and formed the large lagoon, Keper, on the home reef
at Las.
The women went on beating him, so he took shelter in a shell called nasir3, and
the women took stones and broke the shell. He then took shelter successively in several
shells keret', seskip6, and asor", but the women broke them all and beat him. At last
he got into a trumpet-shell, maber7, and crept under the coral for shelter in a kind
of cave.
Here the women could not get at him ; they could break the coral, but not the
shell in which he was hidden8, so at last they left him.
Iruam then came out of the shell, which floated away, and his body remained
on the reef in the form of a large stone standing up opposite the village of Mei.
The maber shell floated round to the village of Korog, where a man called Adaba
found it, and placed it on the top of one of the bamboos in his fence, and it is always
known as Iruam 's shell.
Mr Bruce says Warber and Goi are both family names belonging to Gadodo of
Las (14) and Pasi of Giar pit (27). The eldest girl is named Warber, as that water-hole
is narbet, owing to the fact that Iruam made it first ; the second born is named Goi,
and no other family except the above may use these names for their daughters.
Unfortunately neither of these names appears in the genealogies, probably they are
additional names.
Gadodo told Mr Bruce that he and another man named Marau started to dig in
the hole called Warber, as they thought that by deepening it they would strike good
water. They cleaned it out before beginning to dig, but found that they could not
dig down, as Iruam 's stone stopped them : they tried to remove it, but it was so
large that they could not make it stir.
The two water-holes, Warber and Goi, have the same names as two islands con-
1 Warber, Warbir, or Waraber.
2 These holes are about thirty yards apart, and lie at the back of the houses at the village of Las, and
about fifty yards from the beach where Iruam was lying.
8 Trochus niloticus. 4 Strombus. 6 Turbo.
6 Pterocera lambis. 7 Trumpet-shell, Megalatractus aruanus (Semifusus proboacidiferus).
8 One informant said the girls broke open the shell and killed Iruam.
8 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
nected with the Malu legend, and sung in the Asasem wed for Malu men when they
die. The men say there is no connection between Warber and Goi and Malu, the names
having been introduced in the song merely because they are in the vicinity of the place
where the Malu ceremonies were carried on.
At Sager and Mepau, where the women were preparing their food, there are heaps
of stones, used for native ovens, at intervals of a few yards apart; these are called
Deiau, Ter-sabersaber, a Ter-pipira ame baker (and Ter-pipi's oven stone).
The trumpet shell is a very common decoration on fences, both in the villages
and in the gardens. Mr Bruce has frequently tried to find out the reason why it is
so universally used, but can get no satisfactory reply ; they say it is only a decoration,
but he suspects that there is more in it, and that it is a symbol of something or
other, beyond being merely Iruam's shell.
Iruam is represented by a stone on the beach at Areb (pi. II. fig. 1); formerly
the stone stood upright, but a heavy sea knocked it down.
The stone represented on pi. VI. fig. 2 was given to me as being "Ter-pipi Ter-
serberserber," it came from Ulag. It is a rounded wedge-shaped piece of vesicular
lava, 257 mm. long and 212 mm. high, rudely carved to represent the head of a fish (?).
The intaglio portions are painted red and are mainly outlined with white ; the hollow
of the mouth is white.
5. THE Ti BIRDS.
[Compiled jrom accounts by J. Bruce and Jimmy Dei (4 B).]
A number of young women, perhaps ten or twenty in number, lived at the foot
of the hill, at a water-hole named Lakop, near the village of Zomared on the western
side of the island. Although they were spoken of as young-looking girls, they were
said to be very old indeed, and they had the power of changing themselves into
small birds named ti1.
[The water-hole near which they lived is an excavation about two feet square,
with many boulders around it, situated just on the rise of the hill, and prettily shaded
with trees and creepers, while the profusion of ferns and undergrowth gave it a
seclusion appropriate for the dwelling-place of the young Women.]
These young women were in the habit of going out to catch fish and to gather
shell-fish on the adjacent reef of Mebgor ; their boat was the thick leathery covering
that hangs over the coco-nuts on the trees, and when dry falls to the ground. (These
spathes (geru) are shaped like a small canoe, and the children play with them in the
water and pretend that they are small canoes.) Before going into the geru the women
changed themselves into their bird form.
One day they got ready their food before starting out on their fishing. Their
1 Ti is the Sun bird, Nectarinia australis, a small bird about the size of a wren; the colour of the back of
the head and body is a dull olive green, the under side of the body is a bright chrome yellow ; the throat of
the male, kupi ti ("dark" <i), is a dark metallic violet; that of the female, noreb ti, is yellow; the word noreb
implies that the female is coloured like " the sere, the yellow leaf."
FOLK-TALES.
food waa ager, a large bulb, as big as a man's head (pi. VI. fig. 7), and it has to be
roasted before it is eaten, as the flavour when raw is too pungent to be pleasant1.
The women prepared hot stones wherewith to cook the bulbs, and covered them
over with leaves and sand, expecting that when they returned from the reef, the food
would be well cooked and all ready for eating.
The women then took their tiny canoes, one each, and jumped into them, each
turning at the same time into a little ti.
Whilst they were away fishing a very large woman named D5peb, who lived all
by herself in the village of Korog, came walking along the beach. When she came
to the village of Zomared, she turned into the bush for a few yards and came to the
place where the girls had prepared their food in the native oven, as she wanted to
see what was being cooked. She removed the sand and leaves, and examined the ager
to see if it were properly cooked, and when she found that it was just nicely done
she carried it off to her own place.
When the girls returned from the reef and came to the oven, they saw at once
that the food had been stolen, and they were very angry, threatening severe punish-
ments when they should catch the thief. They arranged that on the next day one
of their number should stay behind while the rest went to fish, so as to find out who
had stolen their food.
So on the following day, when the others, or kupi ti, had gone, the girl who was
left behind to watch the earth-oven changed into a noreb ti and perched on a tree
near by. Soon D6peb came along, and as before, she removed the ager from the oven,
and finding it was well cooked, she carried it off with her to Korog. The noreb ti
who had been watching her from the tree said to herself, " Ah ha, I know you Dopeb,
and will catch you next time," and when the kupi ti returned from the reef, she told
them who had been stealing their food.
On the following day the food was prepared as usual, and it was decided that
half the number of girls should remain to watch and to catch D6peb if she should
come again, and that the others should go out fishing. So after the others had left
in their little canoes, those who remained behind changed into ti and perched on the
surrounding trees.
D6peb again came along: she removed the sand and tapped the ager with her
fingers to see if it were well cooked, and finding it nicely done, she marched off with
it. But when the ti saw her carrying it away, they attacked her with branches from
which coco-nuts hang on the trees, (pesur, spadix of botanists). They beat her with
these, and knocked her down, and being very angry with her they swore at her, calling
her bad names2, and at last after beating her and swearing at her, they killed her.
Soon after, the others returned from their fishing, and were shown the body of
Dopeb, and all rejoiced that they had got rid of her.
They all joined in rolling the body down the beach like a cask, using dry mid-
ribs of coco-nut palm fronds as levers, and they threw it into the sea. And still
they jibed and swore at the body when it was in the sea, and told D5peb to go
1 The phrase used in describing this to me was, " Too much he fight, when we roast him, he no fight."
2 They called her " Au mune (Big vagina), Au neb kosker (Large anus woman)."
H. Vol. VI. 2
10 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
home now to her own place and never again to come stealing their food. The
tide was flowing at the time, and Dopeb's body was washed ashore again at Baur.
The ti put her back again into the sea, telling her to go home, but the body was
again thrown up on the shore at Zaub, and again the ti had to go and roll her
into the sea, still swearing at her. The body was washed up again at Sebeg, B6ged
and Kiam, the ti always rolling it back into the water, until it came to Korog,
Dopeb's village. The ti then rolled it up the beach and a little way into the bush,
and left it, telling Dopeb she was to remain there for ever and ever, ' niaiem niaiem.'
The ti thought they would like to live at Korog too, so starting from the beach
they walked back into the bush until they came to the foot of the hill where they
decided to make their abode ; but they found that there was too much noise from
the sea breaking over the home-reef, and making a booming and a swishing noise as
it struck the beach, so they decided to leave and to go and look for a quieter spot,
for they could not bear the noise of the sea breaking on the sand-beach. They came
on to Sebeg, and began to excavate a passage in the ground from the beach to the
foot of the hill and a little way up the hill-side, where they thought they would
reside. But there also they found the noise from the sea was too loud ; it disturbed
them so much that they decided to leave Sebeg and find a quieter place. So they
journeyed to Keweid, and again excavated a passage from the beach up to the hill-
side, but found they could not live there either owing to the noise of the sea rolling
on the beach. So finally they returned to their old home at Lakop1.
They then held a consultation among themselves and agreed they would change
into mosquitos, lag, instead of into birds, but that one of their number should still
retain the form of a ti. They were all still to live at the water-hole, but the ti
was to be the caretaker of the water and watch that no one stole any of it.
Lakop became lag zogo ged, that is, the place of the mosquito zogo ; the water-
hole is sheltered by the luxuriant growth of plants and creepers and is infested by
mosquitos during the north-west monsoon ; perhaps in former times when it was used
as a well they were even more abundant.
The water-courses and gullies on the hill-side and along the alluvial flat to the
sea are considered to be the work of the ti, made by them whilst looking for their
new home, and there is a water-course at each of the places where they wanted to
settle.
The ti were all virgins, and although ages old they always retained their youthful
appearance, looking like young maidens ; their origin is not known.
D6peb was a very big woman and had no husband nor friend, but managed to
do everything for herself without the assistance of any man ; her origin is not known.
The little ti bird is supposed to be endowed with the faculty of foretelling events,
such as when a boat is about to arrive at the island, and how many persons are coming.
The ti legend is the basis of the Lag zogo, and the zogo le officiating for the ,
time being, carried on his ceremonies at Lakop.
1 The reason the ti made their home near Zomared was that though the home-reef opposite the village is
much narrower than elsewhere, it is protected by an outer reef which partially breaks the surf, consequently the
sea makes but little noise breaking on the beach at Zomared.
FOLK-TALES. 1 1
6. STONES THAT ONCE WEKE MEN.
[Told by Warm (15 A).]
Three men, Weriziau, Muiar and Werner, cut down a tree in the bush, and made
it into a canoe whicli they dragged down the creek Nagiz that runs from Gazir to
Las, and across the sand-beach, and launched it in the sea. Werner remained at a
stone fence on the reef, Weriziau stopped at a stone fence on the reef off Gazir and
Muiar stayed at the stone fence on Wabkek reef. Another man, named Ugeir, took
the canoe and went to Openor, the great reef to windward, there the canoe was capsized
and he stopped there.
This tale accounts for rocks or stones on various reefs; there are other examples
of the metamorphosis of reputed human beings into stones, animals or plants, besides
those mentioned in the folk-tales ; reference may be given to the account of the origin
of the Nauareb zogo.
7. KOL.
" Kol came from Zaub to Er. Plenty men came with him."
This is an example of several short and apparently pointless tales that were
told to me by Enoka (18 A) and others. They all referred to the districts in which
my informants severally lived.
There were two stones called Kol, one at Zaub and the other at Er. Once a year
these stones were supposed to roll across the island by themselves (so I was informed)
and exchange places. Nothing further could be discovered about them.
Enoka gave Mr Ray the following in Miriam :
Erpariklare e atrumdare Erge. Wiaba terpeiriklare Zaubge atrumdare. Wiaba
(They) push away it roll down at Er. They push it back at Zaub roll down. Tliey
erpariklare Erge atrumdare. Wiaba erpariklare Zaubge atrumdare. Wiaba
push it away at Er roll down. They push it away at Zaub roll down. They
erpariklare Zaubge atrumdare. Wiaba erpariklare Zaubge. E emrilu niaiem.
push it away at Zaub roll down. They push it away at Zaub. It stayed for ever.
The Zaub Kol (pi. VI. fig. 1) is a block of vesicular lava of irregular shape,
206 mm. by 200 mm., very rudely carved, and having the appearance of a human head
with very prominent eyes.
The Er Kol is a headless stone perched on a heap of stones on the sand-beach
at Er, the other stones are " the men who brought him," one of them is a granitic
boulder, all the rest are of local rock.
8. KULTUT OF THE LONG ARM.
[Told by Mamai (16).]
Kultut1 had a very long arm and lived by the beach at Wedwed close bv Er.
A number of girls made an earth-oven (ame) to cook a large ager (cf. p. 6), then
1 Kutut in Pasi's MS.
2—2
12
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TOERES STRAITS.
they went in four canoes to fish on the reef. Kultut came out of his house and
stretched out his loug arm and took the ager out of the oven and ate it all up.
The girls came back to the shore and saw that their earth-oven was empty. They
exclaimed, " Ulloa ! who man take him ame ? Wa ! wa ! "
The next day the girls made another earth-oven, but the master of the canoe
Fio. 4. Sketch of Kultut to scale.
told a girl to stop and see what happened. The girls went in the canoe [only one
canoe was mentioned at this time]. The girl who remained behind hid in the bush
and watched. Kultut came, put out his arm, took the ager out of the oven, and ate
it all up.
The girls came ashore and the watcher told the others that Kultut had stolen
the food.
Five girls were told off to stop behind on the next day, and Kultut came as
usual to steal their food. They came out of hiding and said to him, " Hi ! why do
you steal our food ? " (" What matter you fellow steal kaikai ? "). They took some misor
shells and cut off his arm at the elbow.
On the shelving beach of volcanic ash at Er is the
faint outline of a man (fig. 4) with an arm 5'588 m.
(18 ft. 4 in.) in length; 4'650 m. (15 ft. 3 in.) off,
about S.S.W., is a rounded shallow depression 915 by
835 mm. (3 ft. by 2 ft. 9 in.) containing a large oblong
block of lava; this is the earth-oven, ame, with the
ager. The fissure on the slab of rock is stated to
have been caused by the five girls. I think the
outline of Kultut is partly natural and partly worked
over.
Kultut is also represented on a stone top (fig. 5)
painted in red and blue, and wearing a feather head-
dress. Near his hand is the ame. A red line runs FI0.5. Tracing of a top in the Cambridge
round the periphery of the disc. Museum, j nat. size.
FOLK-TALES. 13
9. KlAR, WHO CUT HIS FOOT.
[Told by Pasi (27).]
A man named Kiar, who lived on Dauar, had one day collected a large number
of shell-fish on the reef and made a heap of them, when accidentally he stepped on
them and cut his foot very badly. Some men carried him to the shore at Bazir where
there were some low cliffs, and the blood spurted out from Kiar's foot and sprinkled
the rock. The men then carried him to a small sand-beach where they made a shelter
of posts and coco-nut leaves, ' he get all right a little bit.' Kiar said to the men,
" More better you take me to Ulag, north-east wind (naiger) he come here all the
time." So they took Kiar to Ulag on the far side of Mer and he remained there.
This tale was told to me by Pasi to account for patches of a deep red colour
on the rocks at Bazir on the coast of Kebi Dauar. The red patches, which as Pasi said,
"you can't rub it off," are a tachylitic edge of the basic volcanic rock which is under-
going decomposition with the separation of haematite.
10. MEIDU.
[Compiled from accounts by J. Bruce and Pasi (27).]
Meidu was an old woman who had neither husband nor children, she lived at Ten1,
a very small cove on the eastern side of Dauar, where the sand is blackish in colour
and not white, as it is everywhere else.
One day she was tidying up her place and throwing the rubbish below high-
water mark. When she had finished she looked up and saw four young men, Ab, Wid,
M6nan and Zirar. She sent them off to their gardens to wrap up their bunches of
bananas with leaves (kaba sopsop). After they had gone away, as was her wont, she
went into the sea to wash herself and to kill the deas in her petticoat. When she
returned she changed her wet petticoat for a dry one and called to four girls, Aiu,
Baiso, Israged and Eupe, to come to her as she thought they were in the bush with
the young men. The girls did not want to come, so they stayed where they were.
Meidu got angry and called them again, saying: "You come and stay with me. What
are you doing there? If you do not come you will be red or bloody8."
When Meidu found the girls did not come to her, she lay down on the sand-
beach below high-water mark, as the tide was out, to sleep in the sun ; it was now
about mid-day and was very hot. Meidu was sleeping with her head towards the
shore, and when the tide came in it first reached her foot and she drew it up, but
she did not awaken. The rising tide reached her leg and she drew it up, but she
did not awaken. The tide then reached her hips and she drew up her legs close to
her body, but she did not awaken. Next a big sea swamped her and tossed her legs
about from one side to the other, but she did not awaken, she was so very sleepy.
The tide kept rising and tossed and rolled her body about until it floated her away,
1 Also pronounced Ter or Teir.
2 "Wa tabakeaure e»e wa note wa mammam," lit. "You come, suppose you not, you bloody," or as Pasi put it,
"I think you got sickness, I think you got blood inside."
14 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
still asleep, past the west side of the island beyond Giar pit, and left her stranded
high and dry on Kameri reef. Meidu still slept lying at full length upon the reef,
till, about sundown, the waves bumped her against a rock, this awakened her, and she
looked round her thinking she was still on Dauar; but when she sat up and saw
Mer and Dauar facing her to the east, she began to get afraid that she would be
carried further west to some of the islands where she knew there was a great scarcity
of food.
She then stood up and addressed the two islands thus : " Mer, Dauar, wa tidi-
deoram," i.e. "Mer, Dauar, stay ye afar." Next, addressing the people on the two
islands, she said : " Dibadiba tege, lem waeudawa, ki waesameiwa," i.e. " a pigeon on
the doorway, sun die away, night grows dark V (This is called Meidura mer or " Meidu's
talk.") Then addressing them in the usual form of language she said : " Miriam a
Dauar le wa ditimeda lewer eroawem kebi gerger a kige wesemeua," i.e. " Miriam and
Dauar men you begin food to eat small daylight and at night (are) finishing," meaning
that the Murray islanders have abundance of food and are continually eating from sunrise
to sunset.
[One of my versions reads thus : She got up and looking around her said, " Where
is my place ? " When she looked at Dauar and Mer she cried, " Oh ! I think I am
going to another island. Ah ! you people on Dauar and Mer, you have plenty of food
to eat from the rising to the setting of the sun ; that is not the case in the other
islands, and the island whither I go has not abundant fruit like Dauar and Mer.
I can't swim back to Dauar " ; and she sang.]
The night tide rose and bore Meidu away past many islands, but on none of them
did she land until she was washed up on the beach of Mibu (pronounced Moibu or
Maibu by the Miriam) at the mouth of the Fly River.
A man named Waseau picked up Meidu from the beach, and she was immediately
changed into a nut about the size of an areca nut, which straightway sprouted and grew
into a meidu tree that bore plenty of nuts2.
The four young men came down the hill of Dauar with some bananas for Meidu. They
looked around, but could not find her, so they thought the tide had carried her away.
In consequence of their disobedience in not amswering Meidu and coming to her
when she called them, the four girls were changed into the four adjacent garden lands on
Dauar which bear the same names ; the soil on these four particular places is of a bright
reddish chocolate colour which is due to the girls' blood.
Ab and Wid were transformed into blue fish and Monan and Zirar into lizards, all
of which are still known by their respective names. 'The lizards remain in the bush for
ever and ever, and the fish in the sea.'
The meidu tree (Nipa fruticans) grows close to high-water mark along the coast of
the west end of British New Guinea3. It bears a bunch of fruit similar in shape to
that of the Pandanus (to which it is closely allied), but it has a red colour ; it is not an
1 Cf. Vol. in. p. 239.
2 Another version is: " She changed herself into a tree called the meidu tree," and no mention is made of a man.
8 It is interesting to read in D'Albertis, New Guinea, Vol. n. p. 145, concerning the very island on which
Meidu was stranded, "Mibu became a real prison... surrounded on all sides by nipa."
FOLK-TALES. 1 5
article of food, though, as it is pungent, the New Guinea people chew it like the areca
(betel) nut. The fruit is found washed up on the beaches of Mer and Dauar in the
north-west monsoon. When meidu trees, carried away by the floods of the Fly river,
drift down to the Murray Islands during this season, the Miriam say, "Ah! there is Meidu
come again to have a look at Mer and Dauar."
A long broken stone, near high-water mark, on the beach at Teri represents Meidu ;
formerly it was one stone, but the action of the weather and sea split it into two portions.
As Meidu took root in New Guinea, the natives cannot give an explanation as to how
she was changed into the stone on Dauar (pi. II. fig. 3).
The meidu or sab zogo is described in the section on Taboo.
We obtained a stone top, surrounded with blue, white and blue bands, with a figure
FIG. 6. Tracing of a top in the Cambridge Museum, J nat. size.
in the middle, apparently decorated with a feather head-dress (fig. 6). In front of the
person is written the word Meidu, but there is nothing else to suggest any connection
with the tale.
11. NAGEG AND GEIGI.
{Compiled from accounts by Pasi (27), Debe Wali (26) and Kriba (29).]
Nageg lived all by herself at Ne in Waier. One day she went into the bush to
defecate, and came back and went again a second time ; when she went a third time she
was delivered of Geigi.
When Geigi was about six years old his mother made a small bow and some arrows
for him to play with, and he took them down to the beach and began to shoot at fish.
First he struck a small fish named bozar, and he called out to ask his mother if
it was good to eat, and she said, " Yes." Then he shot at another named gas1, and he
was told that it also was good to eat. Then he shot a umen, a fish like an eel
that lives under the stones, and the third time his mother told him that it was good
to eat.
When he was a few years older, he asked his mother to make him a spear, and
she made him one. He went on to the reef and speared some gar-fish (pans, Belone)
1 It was described as a small fish that goes inside a shell or under a stone, but it always goes in tail first,
so that it can see out. Elsewhere we have 308 as the hopping-fish, Periophthalmus ; but these two accounts
hardly tally.
16 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
and then he went round Gerger pit, laying his fish down on the rocks as he caught
them, and came back to his mother's place, picking up the fish as he came along. He
gave them to his mother, who cooked them and they ate them. This he did for three
successive days.
He started out on another day to spear gar-fish, and when he had got round as far
as Egreserer on the west side of the island, opposite Dauar, he saw an old man with a
big belly, named Iriam Moris1, sitting down at his place Teg in Dauar.
He thought to himself, "I will go and fool that old man." So he laid down his
spear and climbed up a coco-nut palm and took the sprouting fronds, u kupi, and
made a wreath for his head2 and fastened a band of it round his wrists and ankles,
and a belt round his waist. He dived into the sea and immediately turned into a king-
fish (geigi, Cybium commersoni) and swam in deep water across to Dauar, where there
was a shoal of tup : he swam in amongst them and made them all jump and dart
away in front of him.
The old man saw the rush of tup and got up and went for his fish-scoop, weres : he
caught a quantity of tups and believed that it was a king-fish that was chasing them
into the beach. Geigi swam back to Waier and resumed his human form : he picked
up his spear and fish and went home again. His mother asked him, " Where have you
been ? " He said, " I went to spear gar-fish," but she did not know that he had been to Dauar.
The next morning he did the same things over again4, and the old man came
out with his large weres, but as he was scooping up the fish, he saw Geigi's feet,
and the soles were white, so he said to himself, "Ah ! I can see you all right, you are
not a fish, you are a man, I can see your legs : you tried to make a fool of me, the
next time you come I will catch you."
Geigi returned home and the same conversation took place as on the previous day.
Next morning he went over to Dauar again4, after he had decked himself out with
the coco-nut fronds, and he rushed in among the tup ; the old man came out with
a very big weres and looked out very carefully for Geigi, and he managed to scoop him up
along with the tup, and carried them all along to where there was lying the broken side
of an old canoe, pau, and he poured them out into it.
Soge was an old woman who lived on Kebi Dauar, and Iriam Moris called out to her
to come with her children and bring lighted firewood, ur, a saucepan shell, ezer, and
three stones, irmad, to support the shell, also some pandanus leaves, abal, in which to
wrap the fish, while they were being roasted.
The old woman came down the hill with the things he wanted, and she brought her
small boys with her. One small boy, when he saw what he thought was a big fish
lying in the canoe bottom (for Geigi was fooling and making a flapping noise like a fish
that has just been caught), began to poke Geigi in the eye and rubbed the eye with his
finger5. The old man saw him and told him to stop and spoke angrily to him. So the
1 Pasi calls liim Iriemnris and Jimmy Eice calls him Iriam Moris in Mr Kay's MSS. Cf. Vol. in. p. 230.
2 In more than one account it is stated that Geigi made "eyes," irkep ; this must mean that he twisted the
leaves into rings to represent the gaigaidan, the eye of the gaigai, or king-fish, of the Western people. Vol. v. p. 249.
3 Although my informants said he caught tup, the story implies that Geigi really frightened the fish away.
4 In the narrative all the details of the previous day were repeated.
8 This incident is represented on a stone spinning top, pi. VI. fig. 3.
FOLK -TALES. 17
boy said to his mother, " This old man talk to us, very good we go up the hill to our
own place and leave him." The mother had heard the old man speak to her boy, so she
said, "All right, we go," and they all went home and left him.
Iriam Moris had enough tup to fill the shell four times, and when they were
cooked, he capsized them on to a banana leaf. Then he cut Geigi across into three
pieces, first he boiled the head, then the middle of the body, lastly the tail end, and
finally he placed the pieces on a banana leaf.
Then Iriam Moris, of the big belly, ate up each of the four heaps of tup, the three
portions of Geigi1 ; and, still being unsatisfied, he smashed up the large weres and ate it2,
he broke up the poles, werir, that are used in catching the tup and ate them, he took
the firewood and embers and ate them, he collected the ashes and ate them, and he even
swallowed the three irmad. He ate so much that he could not walk about, and he lay
on the sand-beach like a stone. ' He say, " I feel good now." '
Geigi's mother waited and wondered why her son did not come home. She slept
that night and the next morning she started out to look for him. As she went round
Gerger pit she called out, " Geigi, my boy, where are you ? You did not come home
yesterday, come to me." She kept on crying out to him as she went along, and when
she came opposite to Dauar, she called out, " Geigi, my boy, where are you ? I think
you must be inside the belly of Iriam Moris."
A little further along, she saw Geigi's fish-spear. At the base of the sandspit
of Waier she saw Geigi's footprints. Then she came across the pieces of coco-nut
fronds lying on the ground, which Geigi had left when he decorated himself, "Ah!" she
said, " What is this ? "
The tide was out so she crossed over to Dauar and when she was half-way between
the islands she stopped and stood in the water and cried out, "Geigi, my son, where
have you been ? I did not see you yesterday. I think you must be inside that old
man." At the sandspit of Dauar, she cried out as before. When she came to Teg, she
saw Iiiam Moris lying down3, and said to him, "Have you seen my boy, my son?"
The old man said, " Yes, I saw your boy, I think he is playing over at Eg. You go
and look at those boys." ' He gammon.'
Nageg went to Eg, and saw a number of boys at play and asked them if they
had seen her boy Geigi. They said, " No, your boy is not here, we don't know
where he is."
The mother turned back to Teg, and on her way she found some of Geigi's hair
and saw bloodstains, and then she was sure that the big man Iriam Moris had killed
Geigi. She took a louse out of her hair4 and it told her what had happened. Nageg
spoke to Iriam Moris, but he did not speak nor move.
So she went up to him and thrust the stave, bager, which she carried, right
through his body so that it came out on the other side, and she took a big stone and
1 The only other record of cannibalism in the folk-tales occurs in the story of Kaperkaper (p. 53).
2 This incident is also represented on a stone spinning top, pi. VI. fig. 3.
3 ' That old man he no move, too much ballast in his belly.'
4 In my notes I have "her hair," but it is probable that the louse was on Geigi's hair, which she picked
up; for other examples of this form of divination cf. Vol. v. pp. 19, 20, 36. Debe Wali said Nageg was
informed by a blue fly, abo.
H. Vol. VI. 3
18 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
hit him on the head with it so that he died, and with her stone knife she ripped him
open and found the bones of Geigi.
She took all the bones out and laid them on the ground, and placed the skull,
the ribs, the arms and the legs, so as to make up the skeleton of him, then she
went into the bush, and collected some green tree-ants1, soni, in their nest of leaves.
She took the nest, soni meta, and laid it on Geigi's skull2, and standing at the head,
she made a jump to the feet and then back again to the head, and then back again
to the feet, and as she jumped the ants ran into the bones, and ran along from the
head to the feet, and after the third jump Geigi came to life again and stood up all
right. His mother asked him how he came to be eaten by the big man, and he told
her that he had been fooling him and had been caught.
They started on their way home to Waier, and Nageg began to scold her son,
and when they came to the strait between Waier and Dauar, she told him to go away
for ever and live " in the deep water," karemge, and if ever any man tried to catch him
with a hook and line, he was to break the hook when he got it into his mouth,
and cut the line, and if anyone tried to spear him, he was to break the spear.
Geigi said, " All right Mother, I go," and then he said, " Very good you go and
live in holes in the reef and if any man tries to shoot you with bow and arrows you
break the arrow, and if anyone tries to catch you by the body, you cut his hands
with the bone on your head and the bone on your breast, o-seker, and if he tries to
catch you by the tail, scratch his hands."
Geigi then dived into the deep water and Nageg stood watching the ripple, ipu,
of the water as he went away. She then went under a stone on the reef, head first,
and made her home amongst the stones of the reef.
Fio. 7. Native drawing of a king-fish, geigi (Cybinm commersoni).
There are several relics of the three characters of this tale in the islands of Waier
and Dauar. In the bay Ne, of Waier, about the centre of the sand-beach and near
the fallen rock Korsor is a smooth slab of rock imbedded in the sand : this is the
mat Nageg was making when Geigi disappeared.
Geigi's fish-spear is still to be seen lying on the beach of Waier, it was once
one long isolated slab of the ordinary volcanic ash of the island but it is now broken.
PL I. fig. 3.
A slightly convex slab of rock by the sand-beach at Teg on Dauar is pointed out
as Iriam Moris, or rather as his " big belly."
Geigi is the king-fish (Cybium commersoni) (fig. 7) that swims rapidly in deep
water; it is one of the very large pelagic mackerels and has such powerful jaws that
1 Formica viridis. 2 Cf. the similar incident in the tale of Kaperkaper, the Cannibal (p. 53).
FOLK-TALES.
19
it cuts through an ordinary fish-line, consequently fishermen lash a strong fish-hook on
to a length of strong wire which can withstand the biting of the fish.
Nageg is the brightly coloured trigger-fish (Monacanthus) that lives in crevices in
the coral rock. In addition to a dorsal and a ventral spine there is a row of small
spines on each side of the base of the tail. The fish goes head first into a hole, and
it is very difficult to pull it out, as it erects the dorsal and
ventral spines and the thorns on the tail scarify the hand.
We obtained a stone top in Mer, now in the
Cambridge collection (fig. 8) on the disc of which is
written Nageg. It represents a woman, with a European
skirt, holding in her hand what is probably a strip of
leaf for mat making. Behind her are three dots, probably
the irmad, or stones to support the shell saucepan, and
a seven rayed star, possibly representing the fire. In
front of her feet lie a basket with a handle, and two
coco-nut water vessels, connected by a handle. Above is
the mat she was making.
Geigi and Nageg are represented in string figures,
kamut, cf. Vol. iv.
FIG. 8. Tracing of a top in the
Cambridge Museum, J nat. size.
Culture Myths.
12. POP AND KOD.
[Bruce, MS.]
Pop and Kod came from the Fly Kiver district of New Guinea to Zaub on Mer,
they did not stay there long, but went across the island to Er, where they lived in
a coral tree (Erythrina). They made a song, samena or wed, in the tree, after which
they came down and had connection on the ground ; this was the first secret, bagem.
The Er people claim Pop and Kod as the original settlers of Mer, but other
groups do not accept this. When people hear an old man singing and crooning, they
say, " Ah ! he is samena" or singing of the time when he was a young man. Keeping
anything secret, such as having connection, is called bagem.
The keber of the Pop le-op is described in the section on Funeral Ceremonies.
13. SIDA.
[Compiled from accounts by S. MacFarlane, A. E. Hunt, E. Bruce, J. Bruce, Mabo (14 A)
and Mamai (16).]
Sida, or Said, came from Daudai in New Guinea alone in a canoe to the Murray
Islands. First he landed at Dauar, where he spent one day, and before leaving he
planted a screw pine, kapeler. Thence he went to Umar, the westerly point of Mer.
On landing at Umar, Sida was met by his friend Kobai who lived there. Kobai
3—2
20 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
told him that a pretty girl named Pekari lived on the other side of the island at
the village of Ulag, or Was, so they started off to see the girl, going round by the
south end of the island.
When they came to the village of Terker, Sida told Kobai to wait while he planted
something. He went up the hill and, after lie had connection with a woman named Su,
he planted a banana sucker, orwar.
They made a fresh start and reached the village of Eger, where Sida saw a young
girl named Paiizap, or Paizaiza, to whom he took a fancy. He said to Kobai, " You
stop here, I want this girl," and before he rejoined Kobai, he went up on to the hill
and planted some banana trees. Two other people lived at Eger, Maimri, a man who
was so ill that he could only sit down, and a woman named Sokoli who took care
of Maimri and fetched food and water for him. These two talked together. When
Sida came along he saw Sokoli and ' they did no good.' Sida went off and Sokoli
remained behind1.
Sida and Kobai proceeded to the village of Warwe, where a young virgin named
Zabaker lived with her father Soroi. Sida had intercourse with her and as a result
the blood flowed from her in great quantity ; then he erected a shrine and u zogo
at this spot (pi. IV. fig. 3)2, he also planted a kapeler3 to commemorate the event.
On arriving at Areb a girl named Peigu4 took Sida's fancy, and later he planted
a screw-pine. Then he told Kobai he had the stomach-ache, and asked him to wait
for him while he went into the bush. Sida went to a small hill named Bed and
there passed so many bivalve shells (kaip sorsor)* that they formed a very large heap,
and to this day these shells are plentiful upon the adjacent home-reef. Sida also
planted a screw-pine.
After passing through Las and Mei they went towards Ulag ; on reaching Levrag
pit they found a large number of highly decorated young men dancing6 in order to
show themselves off before the beautiful Pekari, who lived there. No other girl could
vie with Pekari in good looks, and every young man thought to himself, " Ah ! that is
my woman " ; but Pekari would have none of them.
1 Sokoli is an ovoid stone in a cleft in the lava stream on the beach at Eger. Close by is a heap of lava
boulders underneath a pundanus tree on the sand-beach ; this is the seated Maimri, the two low ridges of rock
jutting on to the beach are his legs.
2 The somewhat pyramidal stone of black lava on the top of the cairn in the illustration is Zabaker. The
convex base rests on a basin-shaped piece of granite rock. Women and nog le (i.e. strangers or outsiders) are
informed by the Warwe zogo le that the latter is the canoe in which she came from New (iuinea — indeed, I was
at first told that this was the case ; but the gumik nei (secret name) of the stone is Zabakera mammam baker
(" the blood-stone of Zabaker "). This stone marks the spot where the connection took place, and on the left,
the stone with two ridges indicates the distance to which the blood flowed; it looks as if the latter stoue was the
torso of an ancient female figure. According to Mr Bruce, Warwe is one of the many places where Sida erected
u zogo ; but Lewag is the chief u zogo ged. Gauul (Warwe, 16 c) and Mamai (Warwe, 16) are the zogo le.
Mamai first told me the Zabaker incident.
8 Mr J. Bruce spells this kapelar, and calls it a " tree fern."
4 Peigu is now a stone on the reef hard by.
5 These shells are used by the women for scraping out the kernel of coco-nuts and for scraping roasted
yams and other food.
6 One informant said six men danced the kamosar beizam dance at Lewag pit to attract Pekari's notice; the
kamostir is a black dog-fish (Vol. v. p. 44).
FOLK-TALES. 21
Pekari was behind the fence at Ulag with a number of young and old women
preparing food for the dancers, and ever and again they looked at the young men
through the crevices. A small girl, who was looking at the dancers, saw the two men
come round Lewag pit, and she called out to Pekari, " Kobai is there with another
man." She did not know Sida, as he came from New Guinea. Perperi, the girl friend
of Pekari, went out to see the visitors and when she returned she said to Pekari,
" That is Sida." Pekari said, " I want to look too," so she threw down the food she was
preparing and went outside the fence to have a good look at Sida, and she immediately
fell in love with him. Sida had sat down to watch the dancing, and by this time
it was getting near sundown. Pekari told the young girl to go to Sida and inform
him she liked him very much and that she wanted him1. The girl told Sida.
That night Sida went to Pekari and slept with her on the beach ; when he wanted
to have connection with her he placed her head towards the sea, but Pekari said,
" No, you must put my head towards the bush as that is my land, and it is of the
very best. ' So he turned her towards the land, .and while in the act of intercourse
he withdrew his member and the semen was spilt on the ground, and as a result
numbers of coco-nut palms sprung up. All the people were asleep at the time, and
when they awakened in the morning they noticed a peculiar sound they had not
previously heard, and they were afraid — it was the rustling by the wind of the coco-
nut palm leaves. When they went outside they were astonished to see all the tall
coco-nut palms, which already were bearing nuts. They then said, " Ah ! coco-nut
there!"
Sida left Ulag early that morning and proceeded on his way round the island.
After he had passed Akup, he met two lads named Abob and Kos, who were catching
the small tup fish in a conical basket. Having heard a good report of their mother
Kudar, Sida determined to visit her, and wishing to have the way clear he spoke to
Abob and Kos and told them to go further round to the east, as he had seen large
shoals of tup on a fine sandy patch, for just then tlie lads were diving on stony
ground. They at once started off and Sida made his way to their mother's house,
which was close by, and saw Kudar sitting beside her fence. Sida made overtures which
were rejected, so he took a bone dagger, sok*, out of his basket and stabbed her in
the neck ; then he picked her up and put her in his basket.
In the meantime Abob and Kos had been looking for the shoal of tup, but could
not find it. They then said to each other, " That fellow Sida has made a fool of us,
let us go back quickly as he may harm our mother." They threw down their fishing
gear and hurried off. When they came to their place they could not find Kudar, so
they looked around and, seeing Sida's footprints, hurried after him.
A rat had previously made a hole in Sida's basket, and, when Sida had got as far
as Wed, Kudar in looking through it saw her two boys coming and she said to Sida,
1 Instances of advances on the part of the girls seem to have been more common among the Western than
among the Eastern Islanders ; indeed it was customary for the Western maidens to propose marriage to the
men, Vol. v. p. 222.
2 This is a sharp-pointed instrument made out of the leg-bone of a cassowary, and is a common weapon in
New Guinea.
22 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
" My two sons are coming and will catch you and kill you for what you have done
to me." Sida looked round and saw them coming, he then took some feathers of the
frigate bird, waumer, from his basket and stuck them in his stern making a tail of
them and flew up a little way just like a frigate bird. When the sons came up they
had sticks, kus bager, in their hands and struck at him. Sida kept going higher and
higher out of their reach, he then flew very high and looked round for New Guinea
and saw his own place there. Sida flung Kudar out of his basket and she was drowned
in the sea, the place where she fell becoming the Aum reef.
Sida then flew round to the east end of the island to a sand-bank called Werer,
or " The Hungry," because no turtle or turtle eggs are to be obtained there, as it is
covered at high tide. He there planted wauri shells1, then he flew to the north to
Kerget sand-bank and planted some more wauri shells. He then flew off to Mazeb
kaur (Bramble Cay) and planted more wauri shells. Finally he flew off to New Guinea
and never came back again to Murray Island.
In Volume v. I gave three versions of this tale (pp. 28, 31, 35), which deal with
Sida's adventures in New Guinea and in the Western Islands, and only incidentally
refer to his experiences in Murray Island. The present version completes all the
information I have been able to gather respecting this culture-hero. In the Eastern
as well as in the^ Western Islands, Sida was regarded as a benefactor: he instructed
people in language (v. p. 31), he stocked reefs with the valuable cone-shell, and notably
he introduced plants useful to man. The association in the native mind of the sexual
act with agricultural fertility has previously been mentioned (v. p. 347).
Sida is reputed to have been the first who brought the coco-nut, banana and
screw-pine ; indeed he had a basket full of different kinds of food plants, amongst
others the sago palm, but this he planted on Erub. The people think if Abob and
Kos had only managed to kill Sida they would have had many more kinds of plants
from his basket. In the account of the Sewereat u zogo it will be seen that there
is some uncertainty in the mind of the natives whether the u zogo (coco-nut shrines)
were founded by Sida or by Abob and Kos.
One informant said Sida was a giant and when one of his feet was in one village
the other foot was in a village a quarter of a mile away ; his height was more
doubtful, he might have been as tall as a coco-nut palm, or not higher than a
house; his footprints are to be seen impressed in the rocks at Mergar, at Wed, and at
Dauar.
Pekari, the beauty of Ulag, is to be seen on the reef in the form of a large
lava stone ; both the breasts were quite perfect several years ago, but now there is only
one as some floating wood broke off the other. Mr Bruce, who gave me this informa-
tion, stated he went several times to see her, but never could make out anything
approaching the form of a person.
Kudar is supposed to have been the foundation of the reef called Aum, to the
north-west of Mer, whither the islanders go to catch fish, as it is considered a good
fishing-ground; but her head was represented by a stone at Pit kek which is now
in the Cambridge Collection (pi. X. fig. 1). It is a facetted boulder of fine-grained
1 This is the Conus millepunctatus from which arm-rings, breast and other ornaments are made.
FOLK -TALES. 23
volcanic rock, 195 mm. in height ; it does not appear to have any human workman-
ship. A black mineral, which is a dark mica, or biotite, forms on one facet a broad
irregular ring, and there is a trace of another ring on the adjoining facet; between
these two facets is a somewhat prominent angle, the lower margin of which is outlined
by a band of the black mineral. The rings represent the eyes and the ridge the nose
of Kudar.
The natives seem to take a great pride in the amatory adventures of Sida (or
Said, as he was sometimes called). Certain of these incidents were told to me by
residents at the spots where they occurred as local independent tales, such, for example,
as his intercourse with Sokoli and Zabaker; I have thought it better to incorporate
these fragments in the general tale of Sida.
A Miriam version was first published by the Rev. A. E. Hunt, Journ. Anth. Inst.
xxvin. 1898, p. 15.
14. GEL AM.
[Told by Jimmy Dei (4 B). Cf. version, Vol. in. p. 248.]
Gelam's father and mother lived at Moa, and when he was still quite young his
father died. When Gelam had grown up he took a boar's tusk and made a bamboo spear,
gelub, which was used for catching birds.
A great number of the Torres Straits pigeons had congregated in a large tree which
was full of fruit and Gelam saw them and said to his mother, " I go shoot pigeon for
we two." He took his gelub and bow and arrows, and built for himself a shelter on the
top of the tree, leaving loop-holes through which he could shoot.
He shot a couple of pigeons and left his gelub beside the tree and took the birds
to his mother, saying, '' You roast them, mother, take off all the feathers and roast them."
One of the pigeons was fat and the other was lean, and the mother kept the fat one
for herself and gave the lean one to Gelam1.
Every day the same thing happened and at last his mother said to herself that she
would frighten Gelam. So she took some coral mud and rubbed it over her face, she
put on several petticoats and bound a head-dress of the black feathers of the cassowary
and the feathers of the white reef heron round her head, and took a big stick and went
softly to where Gelam was watching for pigeons.
By and by the mother broke a twig and Gelam, hearing the noise, looked down and
saw what he thought was a spirit, lamar. 'Inside belong him afraid,' so he climbed down
the tree and ran away and his mother ran home.
Gelam's mother reached home first. She took off the additional petticoats, and bathed
in the sea to get rid of the mud, and made herself look just as she usually did.
In his fright Gelam continually stumbled and fell, bruising and cutting himself, and
when he got home he told his mother that a lamar had chased him. He rested in the
house and slept.
1 My informant evidently made a mistake ; it must have been Gelam who kept the fat pigeon for himself
anld gave the lean one to his mother (cf. Vol. v. p. 38), but, strangely enough, when I first heard the Miriam
version of this tale, fifteen years ago, the same mistake was made. As the two versions were very similar in
other respects, Jimmy Dei may have been responsible for both accounts.
24 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
Next day precisely the same adventure was repeated, and again, the day after that.
On the third evening Gelam noticed that some of the white mud lined the folds
of his mother's ears, and he said to himself, "That's you, you make me afraid," but he
did not let his mother know that he had found her out.
When his mother was asleep, Gelam took his father's skull and decorated it, and hung
it up. Then he said to it, "Father, have pity on me! Show me a hard wood like canoe
timber. I want to go to another place, mother has no mercy on me." Gelam then slept
and he dreamed that he heard his father say, "When you go into the bush, look out
for a tree on which a little ti bird1 is sitting, that is the sign that you have found the
wood; when you hit it it will make a sound like 'pi'" (or, as Jimmy Dei explained, it
would make a noise like a clock).
Next morning Gelam got up and went into the bush. He found a tree with a soft
wood and he cut it down and fashioned it into the semblance of a dugong, which he
hollowed out. He took it to a creek, but it floated too high out of the water, and he
threw it away, saying, "Dugong, you go."
The next day he tried again and carved out a shark, but on floating it in the river
he found that it also was too light, so he said, "You shark, you go away."
The next day he found a hard wood which he made into the image of a porpoise,
bid. This also was useless, and he said, " Porpoise, you go."
At last Gelam determined to explore the depths of the bush. At first he looked in
vain, but at length he saw a tree with a ti sitting on its top. He struck the tree,
and it resounded with a "pi." He began to cut the tree down, but could not finish
it and went home to sleep. Next day he again hacked at the tree and then went home
to sleep.
The next day Gelam went back again and tried to fell the tree, but he could not
succeed, so he called out to the south-east wind, sager, to help him, saying, "You haul
it down " ; but the south-east wind called to the north-west wind, koki, and the north-
west wind called to the south-west wind, ziai, who broke it down. Gelam made a
cavity in it, but by this time it was sundown, and he went home to sleep.
He returned the next morning and finished carving the tree to resemble a dugong,
and he put a name on it and called it "atwer," which was his mother's name. He
dragged the dugong to the river and sank it in the water. Then he hauled it on to
the bank and went home to sleep, but his mother did not know what he was doing.
Another day he collected a lot of food and left it close to the dugong.
The following day when it was low water, Gelam said to his mother, " You go and
catch fish. Suppose you see a big fish, you walk to the edge of the reef, and spear it
with a kus bager" (a spear made of kus wood). Gelam put on a plaited arm-guard,
kadik, and loaded the inside of the dugong with the food he had collected, and he
floated down the stream into the sea and out into the deep water outside the reef.
Gelam's mother was catching fish when she saw the dugong, and called out, "Gelam!
I see your fish in deep water," and she tried to spear it with the kus bager.
But Gelam threw off the dugong and said to his mother, "Mother, you know you
formerly frightened me. You also gave me bad pigeons (see footnote p. 23). I leave you
1 Sun-bird, Nectarinia australis.
FOLK-TALES. 25
now. I am going to Murray Island." His mother in vain besought him to remain, and
she tried to catch him by the tail, but he whisked it away and got clear of the reef,
telling her that she would see him go to Nagir and then to Waraber and Paremar.
His mother took off her petticoat and sat down on the reef.
Gelam came across the straits and stopped at Mebgor. Then he came right in to
Mer, and lay with his nose to the north-east, naiger, but the wind blew the sea into
his nostrils and hurt him, so he turned right round to the south-west, ziai. He took
two long pieces of wood and stuck them in the sea : these are now Dauar and Waier.
This is why Mer has plenty of food and Moa has none now.
Fio. 9. Outline sketch of the hill Gelam, taken S.W. by W. off Mer.
This is a slight variant of the tale told to me in Mabuiag (Vol. v. p. 38) ; each
account giving episodes omitted by the other. It is very strange that all narrators
should agree that Gelam's dugong first faced in a northerly direction and then turned
right round and faced in the opposite direction. Gelam (fig. 9), the largest hill of Mer,
culminates in a peak 750 feet in height; below this, to the south, is broken ground;
one rocky headland is called Gelam pit, " Gelam's nose " ; a prominent block of rock,
about half-way down the hill, is " Gelam's eye " ; and a curved escarpment near by corre-
sponds with the front edge of the dugong's paddle. The hill Zomar, at the northerly
edge of the ridge, splays out into the two spurs which form the tail of the dugong.
15. ABOB AND Kos.
[Compiled from accounts by S. MacFarlane, A. E. Hunt, R. Bruce, J. Bruce,
Pasi (27), and Debe Wali (26).]
There were two brothers named Abob and Kos, who had no father; their mother
was Kudar of Ulag, and no account is given of how she came to have the two children.
One day the two brothers went out and got some small fish, called tup, and brought
them home, and Abob, who was the elder, told Kos to go and get some firewood and
some pandanus leaves, abal, to wrap round the fish before roasting them on the fire. Kos
did not want to go and was so dilatory in starting that Abob got angry and went off to
cut the leaves himself. When he had cut them he la*id them on the ground at the foot
of the tree, and went walking towards the village of Er, and from there to Terker, and
from there to Werbadu. There he found a small canoe (or rather a large canoe that had
been broken and made into a smaller one by cutting off one end), he launched it and
began to paddle towards Dauar.
Kos waited some time for Abob to come back with the leaves, and when he was
tired of waiting he started off to look for him. He came to the foot of the tree and
saw the leaves on the ground, and knowing that his brother had gone off in an angry
H. Vol. VI. 4
26 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
frame of mind, he felt uneasy and followed after him. He had uo difficulty in picking
up Abob's tracks, and when he came to a small hill at Werbadu, he looked across the
water and saw Abob in the canoe going to Dauar. He wondered how he could get over
to him and at last decided on flying, and fixing some grass on his arms for wings and
also on his head, he flew after the canoe.
Abob was sitting in the stern of the canoe, paddling, and he did not see Kos coming,
but he felt the canoe give a jump when Kos alighted on the bow. He wondered what
could have made the canoe jump like that when it was going through deep water, and
then he saw Kos sitting in the bow of the canoe like a bird. Abob was still angry with
Kos, and he told him he did not want him to come with him, and said that he had
better go back. Kos said " Stop speaking like that, for though you are my elder brother
I won't have it," and he said that they would both go together to the opposite island
of Dauar.
They went on and landed at Saded, a stony point opposite Werbadu in Mer, and
they hauled the canoe up on to the beach, but it broke into two pieces and they left it
there (pi. II. fig. 4). Then they walked to Kameri on the west point of the island, and
made an enclosure with stone walls on the reef, in which fish might be stranded with
the receding tide — such fish-weirs are called sai. Then they went round to Edeapek on
the south-east side of the island. They wanted to get some tup, but as the beach at
that place is all solid stone, they could not get the fish, so they made large clefts1 in
the rock running out on to the reef and these served as convenient places for catching
tup. They also cut their particular marks on the stone so that men should know who
had made the clefts. When they had made several clefts in the rock they erected stone
fences or weirs, sai, in which to catch fish and then they went round to Ormei.
On the top of Waier there lived a number of people named Warip, and one of them
was always on the look-out for fish : and when he saw some he told the others. The
Warip then came down the hill and walked to the reef in a circle and made a noise
and threw stones to frighten the fish, and drive them towards the centre of the circle,
then they speared them. When they had caught a sufficient number, they roasted them
on a fire.
There was an old woman named Gawer (or Gawar), who was at that time the only
inhabitant of Dauar, and she lived in her garden at the base of Au Dauar.
One day she went to the sandspit at the base of Kebi Dauar, and, smelling the
odour of the fish that were being cooked, she put on leaf petticoats and waded across
the reef to Waier2. She sat down a little way off from where the Warip were cooking
their fish and thought to herself that they would give her some food. But they would
not give her any of the fish, they ate it all up themselves and gave the old woman only
the bones and the viscera. But Gawer sat quietly and said nothing, and then she went
back to Dauar.
It was later on the same day that Abob and Kos came to Ormei, in Dauar (pi. III. fig. 3),
and when they saw Gawer, they picked up a stone with which to kill her ; but she said*
to them " Very good, my boys, you leave me alone. I am an old woman, but I will
1 These clefts in the rock on the beach are called kes edag gapu (cleft collecting gapu), or nar te (canoe opening).
2 At low tide it is possible to wade from one sandspit to the other.
FOLK-TALES. 27
show you a lot of men on another island : when they catch fish they never give me any,
though I am an old woman : they eat it all themselves, giving me only the bones and
insides and I can't eat these. If you will stay here I will go to the bush and bring you
two good staves, tut, made of kus wood."
The brothers sat down while Gawer went to cut the staves. When she returned
she brought in addition some dried banana leaves, gulab, the leaves of a long reed like
a bamboo, pater lam, scarlet hibiscus flowers, kokuam, and feathers of the large grey
tern, sirar. With these she made a dari or feather head-dress for each, and gave them
a tut apiece, saying " You kill all the Warip," for she was very angry with the men of
Waier who had slighted her.
Abob and Kos went down to the beach and dived into the sea, changing themselves
immediately into gar-fish, paris1, and they swam across to Waier where they saw plenty
of men on the top of the hill. They took their own forms and began to fight, and when
they thought that they had killed all of them, they returned to the sea and changed
themselves into gar-fish. They heard men shouting at them derisively, and defying them,
so they went back to the hill and killed more men. Some again escaped, so they decided
to destroy the island, and they cut it up with their staves, taking great slices out of it;
thus it is that the hill is now penetrated with large fissures so that no man can live
there (pi. I. fig. 2, and pi. II. fig. 3). After they had finished destroying the place, they
said to each other " Where is the Warip-land now ? It is all gone."
Abob and Kos thought that they would like to see their mother again, so they
transformed themselves into gar-fish and swam over to Mer, landing at Eger where they
resumed their human forms. They had a rest there and sang at sundown. They also
built the great fish-weirs that extend at intervals from Er to Kiam, before they returned
to their mother at Ulag.
Some time afterwards Sida came to Mer from New Guinea, and what he did there
has already been told.
After the loss of their mother, Abob and Kos, seeing Erub in the distance, deter-
mined to go there. The Erub people spoke the same language as the Murray Islanders,
but, as they were desirous of changing it, Abob and Kos suggested that they should
speak it more slowly than the Mer folk. At Erub also the brothers made stone fish-
weirs, sai, reaching from Mauer to Kemus, as well as many kes edag gapu for catching tup.
From Erub the brothers went to Uga, but before reaching it, Abob changed his
name to Kulka and Kos changed his to Dibir3. At Uga they did as they had done at
Erub, and taught the people to speak the Miriam language even more slowly than the
people of Erub spoke it.
The brothers went on to Darnut, where they were known as Pati and Enage. Here
they taught the people their language. They changed their names to Ui and Sinarue
and went on to Tutu, and taught the people the Tutu language. They changed their
names to Waiau and Keboi, and went on to Parem, where again they taught the people
1 This fish (Belone sp.) is a long spear-shaped fish that swims very rapidly near the surface of the sea with
its tall erect dorsal fin in the air, which makes a very characteristic rushing sound.
2 I have followed Mr Hunt's version of the tale at this point (Journ. Anthr. Inst. xxvni. 1898, p. 17). In
Mr Bruce's version, Abob and Kos were known as Pati and Anag (? Enag) at Erub.
4—2
28 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
the language. Finally they changed their names to Badai and Kebor and went on to
Kiwai, where they remained.
Abob and Kos are local culture-heroes who are reputed to have been the first to
build the large weirs for catching fish (pi. II. fig. 2). Within the memory of man no native
ever made a sot. All they can do now is to repair them, and the natives argue if Abob
and Kos had not been endued with power exceeding that of mere mortals the fish-weirs
would never have been made. The walls are made of blocks of lava, which the natives
say Abob and Kos brought down from the bush, as there are no stones of this kind on
the reef, only lumps of coral-rock. Not only did they build the sai on the Murray
Islands, but they did the same in the other Eastern Islands and in some of the Central
Islands as well. This is the only account I have of culture spreading westwards from
the Eastern Islands, but there are numerous examples of the reverse taking place.
It will also be noted that at each place which Abob and Kos visited after leaving
the Murray Islands, they either taught a new language or suggested a different way of
speaking the old. The people of Erub and Uga still speak the Miriam language with
slight dialectic differences. The inhabitants of the small Central Islands of Torres Straits
belong essentially to the Western Group so far as our extremely limited information
goes; but it is known that their language was half Western and half Eastern (v. p. 1),
and even at Tutu some Eastern (i.e. Miriam) words were employed (v. pp. 347, 375).
In the account of the Sewereat u zogo it will be seen that Abob and Kos are also
credited with founding this coco-nut shrine at Ormei with the help of Gawer, and when
they were resting at Eger, after having killed the Warip, they erected a u zogo there
also. It is interesting to note that none of the Dauar men are u zogo le, but these zogo
are maintained by the Zagareb le who live on the further side of Mer. . When the time
comes to prepare the annual u zogo the u zogo le repair first to Ormei, then to Eger,
which is in a Zagareb territory, and finally to Lewag (Ulag).
Gawer is now a piece of fine-grained volcanic ash, 217 mm. in height, that stood in
the garden at Keriam in Dauar which belongs to Komaberi (Kameri, 26). The stone
is excellently carved to represent a weare's1 head (pi. VI. fig. 4), it stood near one end
of an oblong area of stones and shells about 1,830m. (6 feet) long and '760 m. (2^ feet)
wide (pi. III. figs. 1, 2). All are local stones except one rounded granite boulder. Some
of the stones are upright and by these are moderate-sized giant clam shells, or portions
of larger ones2, which contain one or two small stones ; these are her treasures, ido lu.
It is said when Abob and Kos met Gawer at Sewereat they gave her' a weare to eat,
and she took it to her place at Keriam, which accounts for the stone fish being there.
Gawer's place is not a zogo ged, but it is held in reverence as the place of a very dis-
tinguished personage of former times, hence it is a la babat ged.
The Warip incident accounts for the pinnacle rocks on the top of Waier which are
called warip, and also for the cleft appearance of its riven side (pi. I. fig. 2, pi. II. fig. 3).
1 The weare is an edible fish which has a head and mouth not unlike that of a shark's, it attains a length
of about 30 ins., when small (about a foot in length) it is called turn.
2 Such, for example, is the specimen in the Cambridge Museum ; it contains a quadrangular slab of volcanic
ash, 139 mm. by 97 mm. Gawer is now in the Cambridge Museum ; it is not a zogo.
FOLK -TALES. 29
16. How KAROM THE LIZARD STOLE FIRE FROM SERKAR.
(Version A.)
An old woman named Serkar, who lived at Nagir, had six digits ou each hand.
She had a finger between the thumb and the index finger, as all people had long ago.
When she wanted to make fire, she placed one piece of firewood above another, then
put the finger that had the fire underneath and lighted the wood.
' All the animals at Moa saw smoke plenty times and knew it was fire.' They
wanted fire very much as they had none, so one day they had ' a big talk in one place.'
Tabu (snake), Si (a large lizard), Zirar (a long-tailed lizard), Mbnan (a very small
lizard), Waipem (house lizard), Karom (a large lizard)1, and Goai1 (frog), all gathered
together and ' had plenty big talk. " Very good we get that fire," one speak all the
same. So they talk, talk and say " Very good we swim to Nagir and look. All right
we swim."
'Tabu he try first to swim. He too much sea, big-fellow sea there, no gammon.
By and by Tabu he come back, too much sea, he go mouth belong him, he no savvy
good swim.
' By and by Goai he try : all the same too much sea, Goai he can't go.
' Si, Mbnan, Zirar and Waipem he all try, but he all no good, he come back.
' Last one Karom he try : that fellow he got long neck ; suppose you look at him
he all the time lift up his head and look good : he make his neck long suppose he
like. He go swim. Ah ! he savvy : big sea he come, he lift his head good, he all
right. He get Nagir, he get sandbeach, he go straight house belong Serkar. She sit
down and make basket. She very glad to see Karom. She speak him, " Very good you
sit down." She go look garden belong her get food belong Karom. She go look garden.
Karom he look good, she go away. Ah ! Then he look all over house to get fire. He
no see no fire. He think inside himself "We no look good on, Moa. She no got fire."
By and by Serkar come back. She got plenty thing belong garden and plenty firewood.
She take wood and put one piece on top of another good. Karom he look her good
all the time she make wood ready. Ah ! then she take finger belong her and put it
inside wood, then wood he go fire, she make fire good. Ah ! then she cook food belong
Karom. When food finished cook, she take all wood away from fire, and put it in the
sand so that all the fire he dead. Karom he look good. Not one small piece he
live. She got fire all the time finger belong her. She no like lose firewood. Karom
he like too much take fire back along Moa. Karom he finish food. He speak " Very
good I go, big-fellow swim go Moa3." Serkar he go along sandbeach look Karom go.
He go close to water. He hold out his hand to Serkar. She give him left hand. He
no take it. He speak " Very good you give me proper hand." He gammon he wild
along her. By and by Serkar gave him her proper hand, that one he got fire. Karom
he catch finger that got fire in his mouth, and bite it off and swim with it to Moa.
Moa men he all stop sandbeach, he wait for Karom. Then all glad when they see
1 Monitor lizard locally, but erroneously called iguana, Varanus sp. '2 Hyla coerulea.
3 I.e. It is a long swim to Moa, the distance is at least nine miles.
30 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
fire. All he take fire, go Mer. All go one place in bush, each one get a branch from
the tree he like best, and ask each tree to come and get fire-stick, sbbe (Eugenia near
E. chisiacfolia), gebi, kozb, marep (bamboo), sem (Hibiscus tiliaceus), areparep, ursekerseker,
zib, warupwarup, wadewade, kokokoko, ibi, all them fellow tree he got fire inside. Man
he take goigoi1 he find him all the time.
'Serkar she lose finger belong her. By and by all man he got only five fingers.
You look big-fellow place where no finger he stop, fire-finger he stop there before. All
them trees he keep his fire inside, he never let him go. End.'
I have printed this tale as it was given me in writing many years ago by
Mr Robert Bruce. One informant told me that when Karom cut off Serkar's fire-finger
he used a wageb shell : this is Cyrena, a common river-shell in New Guinea, which is
used for scraping food when cooking it and for a variety of other purposes.
(Version B.)
On one of the islands near the mainland of New Guinea (Doudai) lived a woman
named Sarkar, who had fire between her finger and thumb on the right hand. One
day some men fishing saw smoke rising in the island where Sarkar dwelt, and they
decided to go and explore, and if possible find out the secret of this mysterious power.
After considerable dispute amongst themselves as to the best means of acquiring the
desired information, they decided to change themselves into animals. They therefore
took the form of the mokes (rat), mona (lizard), tabo (snake), si (iguana), zira (?),
ked (?), and karom (?). The heavy seas soon caused the mokes, ked, zira, si, tabo and
mona to give up the attempt. The karom, however, kept on and ultimately landed
near to the place where Sarkar lived. Going up to the woman in the form of a man,
he asked, "Have you any fire?" to which she replied, "No!" for she was anxious to
keep her power a secret. Sarkar brought her visitor food, and having eaten, he laid
down to sleep, but he took care to sleep with one eye open. Presently he saw the
woman strike some fire « from her hand on to some dried leaves and wood, and they
were soon alight. The next morning he decided to leave, and said to Sarkar, "I am
going ; shake hands ! " She offered her left, but he refused and asked for the other.
She then offered her right, and as she did so, the man suddenly drew a bamboo knife
and cut her hand off, plunging into the sea with his prize. When he reached his own
place he tried to make fire and succeeded. Some trees saw him make the fire, and
went to look at it. Some of them, the • kizo, seni, zeb, marep and argergi, took some
of the fire with them, and ever since that time these trees have possessed the power of
producing fire. [The trees mentioned here are those formerly used for producing fire by
friction.]
This version, which is reprinted verbatim, was published by Mr Hunt (Journ.
Anth. Inst. xxvin. 1898, p. 18); a variant collected by Mr E. Beardmore was published
in Vol. V. of these Reports, p. 17.
1 Goigoi is the name for the two fire-sticks; the vertical one is called werem, "child," and the horizontal one
apu, "mother": the twirling of the vertical stick is called werem d(i)rimli, "child turning": they say apu ur
ikir.ar, "mother fire gives."
In my collections I find the following words used for fire-sticks: kozb, argerarger (Callicarpa), zib, urlagelager,
warupwarup.
FOLK-TALES. 31
17. AUKEM AND TERER.
(Version A.)
In former days there were villages in the bush of Mer and in one village, named
Mear, near Korkar, lived Terer and his mother Aukem. Terer had no father, and it
is not known who were the parents of Aukem.
When Terer was about eighteen years of age he was still living with his mother
at Mear, and one day he was sitting down and beating a drum, while his mother was
plaiting a mat ; at the same time some zogo men were preparing a lewer zogo (yam
shrine) near by at Kobei. They heard the beating of the drum and an old man said
to the others, " What does that fellow Terer mean by making that noise while we are
here making zogo1 ? Very good one of you men go and bring him here and we will
kill him for not having more respect for our zogo."
Some men went to Terer and persuaded him to come and have his hair dressed,
mus ed, at KSs. On arriving there they laid him face downwards on the ground and
rubbed the customary mud, bud, into his hair ; after a few hours they took the mud off
and rolled the hair into rope-like ringlets with oil and red earth. Whilst they were
preparing his hair they half killed him, and they removed his skin by scraping him and
he became like a white man. Then they sent him back to his mother.
When he returned to the house his mother was still plaiting her mat and did not
hear him come. He called out to her " Mother ! " His mother looked up and saw him so
altered that she was much astonished and very angry. Terer hung down his head and
leaned on his spear. His mother asked him what they had done to him at KSs and
told him to go to Boigu and take his bones there, for she thought her son was dead
and that it was his ghost that appeared to her, for it is to Boigu that all ghosts go.
She threw him a bunch of gba shells, such as are used as rattles for the dance ; he
picked it up and went to Eger dancing all the while, and as he danced the dry mud fell
from his hair to the ground.
He danced along to B6s and went on dancing through Ubwe to Werbadu, but
before reaching the latter spot he took off his dance-mask, nog, and laid it down in
the bush. At Werbadu a number of men were sitting down and playing at throwing
small arrows and Terer joined in the sport. Later he went with them to Dauar in their
canoe and he remained there for a couple of days.
In the meantime Aukem set out to look for Terer, carrying in each hand a large
human bone; she came to Werbadu in her journeying, and brandishing the bones she
inquired after her boy; they told her he had gone over to Dauar. She went over to
Dauar in a canoe and met Terer returning in another canoe in the channel between
the two islands. Aukem hailed the men in the canoe and asked them where her boy was.
They said, " He is here " ; for Terer had been cowering down in the canoe as he was
ashamed of the colour of his skin.
His mother called to him and he stood up, then she began to speak angrily to
him and said, "Why did you not go to Boigu as I told you to do? You are dead now
you go away for ever."
1 The operation of making zogo has to be carried on secretly.
32 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
Tcrer began to dance on the platform of the canoe and then dived into the sea.
His mother took the two dead man's bones in her hands and dived after him. He
swam below the surface of the water like a fish until he reached the land at Giz,
where he went ashore and danced, thence he went to the north-west point of the
island to a place called Kameri and danced there, then he went to Giar pit and danced
again. His mother followed him still carrying the bone in each hand and she cried out
to him continually, " You go ! you go ! "
The people on Dauar watched Terer and his mother and wondered at their
actions, and asked one another, "What are Terer and his mother doing this kind of
thing for ? "
After Terer had finished his dancing he stood ready to dive at the point of the
reef near deep water ; but before going he spoke to his mother and said, " Mother,
very good you come too and we will both go together." He then dived into deep
water, and when he came up to the surface he again asked his mother to come with
him. Aukem then dived into the water with the bone in each hand and they went
away for ever.
(Version B.)
(In a second version of this tale the earlier incidents were quite similar to those
narrated above, but there is enough divergence in the narrative after Terer had been
flayed by the men at Re's to justify the relation of the other version in its entirety.)
Terer brought away from K6s a small single-pointed spear, baur, and reached home
and went and stood behind his mother without her having seen him. He called out
to her, " Well mother, you look at me." She turned round, left her mat and looked at
her boy and ' inside of her no good.' She said, " What did you do at K6s ? Before
you proper, now you bad boy." She made the boy feel so ashamed that he hung down
his head and stuck the spear in the ground between the great toe and the other toes
of his right foot, and he thought " What am I going to do ? "
He pulled out the spear, turned round and jumped as if he were at a dance, and
then he developed a passion for dancing.
The boy went, and the mother followed until they arrived at Eger where all the
men were sitting down. When the men saw the boy looking like white calico they
took a drum and began beating it. Terer and his mother left that place and went to
the valley above Er.
Terer went to Werbadu and his mother returned home to Mear. Terer took a
small canoe and went over to Dauar and danced. When his mother had made every
thing ready to go into mourning for Terer she left the house and followed Terer asking
of the old men where he was, and at Werbadu they said, "Terer took a small canoe
and went to Dauar." She asked them to take her too.
The same day that the men took Aukem to Dauar, Terer thought he would .like-
to go to Mer and the two canoes met at Keud reef. The mother was now sorry and
had gone into mourning for Terer, she had covered herself with grey mud and wore
the mourning fringes. The boy saw his mother, he was sitting in the stern behind the
men who were paddling; his mother looked and said, "Who is that behind you fellows?"
FOLK-TALES. 33
Terer turned round. "I know that man," she said. They stopped paddling. The boy
hung down his head and started from the stern walking along the gunwale, keeping
his head down all the while ; when he arrived at the central platform, ' he no more
fool, he jump up and down and jump from platform and go down in water, keep under
for two hours and sing out to mother belong him, "You come too — you and me no
come back."' His mother followed him and they dived down and swam under the water
till they reached Dauar.
Terer said to the Dauar men, "You get my things ready, I leave. You take drum
(warup) and food and sing song1 belong man he die." By and by Terer jumped up
and danced with a spear and bow-and-arrow, the mother got up too and the men beat
the drum. Thus Terer danced till he came to Giar pit, then he went into deep water
but the mother stood up on the beach. Terer waited for his mother about an hour,
at last he came back and said to her, " Now mother you and me go. We not go to
Masig, we go straight to Mabuiag and Boigu." He went into the sea, and again waited
for his mother for an hour, then he returned and said to her, "You come, you cause
of trouble belong me, you spoil me. You and me dead now." ' Mother go down too.
Finish. They come back no more. Big man hit warup and carry the news, "Terer
he finish him, he finish mother, he go to Mabuiag and Boigu." Big man say, " You
and me go same road when we dead and go to Mabuiag, Buru and Boigu." '
At low tide in fine weather two stones can be seen in deep water off the edge
of the reef, these are called "Aukem and Terer." This tale accounts for the practice
of preparing dead bodies for burial by scraping off the outer cuticle of the body. It
was first done on Terer.
When beginning this tale my informant said, " Story belong man," emphasising the
last word, this seems rather strange as it is a culture myth ; and although the plot
and incidents differ entirely, this tale cannot be considered apart from the tale of Aukum
and Tiai narrated in Vol. v. p. 56. Aukem and Terer are personified in the Terer keber,
(see section on Funeral Ceremonies).
Religious Myths.
18. THE MALU SAGA.
1. The Coming of Bomai.
(Version A.)
Bomai came from Tuger and went, in the form of a whale, galbol, to Boigu, where
he was stranded on the beach. All the Boigu people went to catch him and one man
looked at him and said to them, " All you people catch that whale." The people con-
sidered how they should catch him and cut him up, and when they had fetched their
bamboo knives they tied a rope to his tail and hauled him up to a house, but Bomai
whistled, and all the men dropped the rope. The head-man said, " Ulloa, that is my
1 In the Pasi MS. the Dauar men sang this song : " Uwe uwe uwe markai wewe Tereria wewe." It is worthy
of note that the Western word for ghost or spirit, markai, is used instead of the Eastern, lamar, as well as
the Western suffix -ia.
H. Vol. VI.
34 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
zogo. I leave him, all you people take drums, you and me will have a dance on the
other side" (of the island). Bomai did not want to remain so he broke the fence and
went down to the beach.
When Bomai arrived at the sea he took on the form of a canoe, and went to
Dauan, then he turned over and looked like a turtle and went on to the shore. A man
who was on his way to catch zab fish looked at Bomai and as he came close beside
him Bomai looked at him ; when the man went to fetch a spear Bomai crawled close
to the creek, but the man went up and caught hold of Bomai, and turned him over
on his back, and taking some red paint he ruddled himself from head to foot. Then
he went away and called out to the people, " You help me cut up this turtle."
When he returned to the turtle with the other men, they began to haul up Bomai,
but they let go in fright as in the meantime Bomai had taken some red paint and
completely ruddled himself with it. " This fellow is a zogo, we can't cut him up," they
said, so they turned the turtle over, erected a fence round him and left him while they
went to get food for a feast. Bomai went away.
As Bomai left Dauan to go to Mabuiag he turned over and changed from a
turtle into a canoe, on Hearing Mabuiag he turned into a dugong and got stranded
on a reef. The men saw him and went to take him, so they fastened a rope round
his tail and hauled him on to the sand-beach. Then they fetched their bamboo knives
and as they were preparing to cut him up, Bomai grunted; "Ulloa!" they cried, "that
is a zogo, we can't cut him up, we must leave him." They built a fence round him and
went to fetch their drums from the other side of the island. Bomai went away.
Bomai changed into a canoe, but as he was nearing Badu he turned over and
became a porpoise, bid, and swam to the land. A Badu man who was fishing, caught
him and called out to the people, " All you fellows come to cut up a porpoise." The
men were very glad and they caught hold of Bomai and hauled him ashore ; when they
were preparing to cut him up, Bomai suddenly turned round and put his head into
the sea and the men caught hold of his tail and held fast. A woman called out, "No
good we catch him, he another kind of fish, he got medicine inside." The men took
their drums and went to the other side with all the people, and they were very glad
and they sang and danced thinking that Bomai was there all the time. Bomai
went away.
Bomai transformed himself from a porpoise into a canoe, but on coming too close
to a rock, one side staved in, then he lifted up one of his arms for an outrigger, serib,
but it broke and he drifted close to the beach of Moa. Two men came, and seeing
Bomai said, " Ulloa ! that canoe he come, a new canoe, we take him, he belong we."
They took the canoe and put an anchor out on the other side, and took a stern line
and made it fast on the beach and hauled the canoe on the shore. The two men
painted themselves and went to tell the people that they had found a canoe which they
had left on the beach, and they beat their drums and danced for joy. Bomai mended
his side and outrigger, and after making himself all right, he painted himself red and
went away.
Bomai left Moa as a canoe and sailed to Nagir. A Nagir man who was fishing
saw the canoe, and came to have a good look at it, but Bomai transformed himself
FOLK-TALES. 35
into a crayfish, kaier, (fig. 10)1. The Nagir man noticed all this and as he caught the
crayfish it made a noise2, so he dropped Bomai into a rock-pool, goki, on the reef,
and called out to the people. They came and looked and said, " That is a zogo," but
one man said, " No, that isn't a zogo, we will roast it and eat it." Bomai lay still
and pretended to be quiet. The men made a fence round Bomai and went off to
get their drums, and they danced for joy. Bomai went away.
Bomai changed into a canoe again. Two men, Sigar and Kulka, were inside the canoe,
'all same as picaninny3.' These three men went to Yam. The Yam people laid a coco-nut
leaf, bei, on the ground and made it into a mat, on which Bomai, Sigar, and Kulka sat.
Fio. 10. Drawing by a native of a kaier, spiny lobster or crayfish (Palinurus). Reduced J.
Bomai's body was anointed with charcoal, keg, made from the shell of the coco-nut,
mixed with coco-nut oil, id ; but his three brothers were allowed by him to use only keg.
Bomai said to Sigar, " All right, I leave you here," and they left Sigar and went away.
Bomai and Kulka went to Masig and the natives laid down a leaf-mat, ka, (fig. 11)
that comes from New Guinea, upon which the two sat. Bomai then took a coco-nut
leaf, but Kulka stopped on the mat4, and Bomai said, "All right, Kulka, you stop here."
Bomai went away.
1 The biramous antennales and large spiny antennae are shown in the drawing, and the five pairs of ambu-
latory appendages are correctly indicated, as well as the absence of the great nippers characteristic of true lobsters.
2 The marine crayfish, or spiny lobster, Palinurus, can make a stridulating noise by rubbing the basal joints
of its antennse against the carapace.
3 This is somewhat obscure: my informant implied that these two men were born from the canoe, and yet
they were "brothers" of Bomai.
4 My informant, Groggy, laid great emphasis on the statement that Kulka stopped on the ka mat, while
Bomai sat on the coco-nut leaves, and other informants mentioned the mats. It was not until Mr Bruce sent
me the following information that I realised the importance of this. Mr Bruce says, the natives state that Malu
(Bomai) gave orders to Sigar that he and his brothers, Seo and Kulka, were to sit on one kind of mat, whilst
he alone might sit on another kind. Malu rebuked his brothers when they sat on the same mat as he did, and
ordered them to sit on mats made from the leaves of the pandanus, abal, and told them that he was superior
to them and that he only might sit on mats made from the leaves of the coco-nut palm.
These were not plaited mats, the leaves were merely laid on the ground. The use of definite mats for
certain ceremonial purposes is characteristic of the Western Islanders. Cf. Vol. v. pp. 65, 79.
5—2
36
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
Bomai went towards the Murray Islands as a canoe, but he was capsized at the long
reef of Wai, and the canoe broke up. He swam away in deep water as a whale,
galbol, and looked at Giar pit, in Dauar: then he transformed himself into a man,
and being cold and tired, he lay down on a sandy spot in the bush in full sunshine,
and when he was warm he went to sleep. The Dauar men built round him a stone
fence, kegar kar, such as they build on the reefs of Badu and Moa, and went into the
bush to have a feast, leaving Bomai behind. Bomai did not want to stay, so he
went away.
FIG. 11. Ka mat, made of leaves of Pandanus, cut into strips and fastened together ;
the kai of the Western islands. Cf. Vol. v. p. 209.
Bomai took the form of a canoe, and sailed away to the Great Barrier Reef,
(Openor), where he stayed for three days, and returned to Dauar and landed at Ormei
(pi. III. fig. 3). Here two men caught him and built a fence round him ; they
told the people what they had done and had a feast ; but Bomai went away.
Bomai sailed about as a canoe for one day, and finally landed at Ne, in Waier ;
he looked into the bush to see if he could find a place where he could remain. " No,"
said he, "I can't stop here, this place is too small," so he sailed away to the Great
Barrier Reef, and went a great distance along it. After a few days he saw the hill
of Murray Island, and sailed thither.
(The foregoing is the most detailed account I have collected, concerning the
wandering of Bomai to Mer. Before I proceed with the narrative, it will be as well
FOLK-TALES. 37
to give the more usual version. The following account is a compilation of versions
told to me at various times by Wanu, Baton, Enoka, and others. The preceding
narrative was told me by Groggy, who said he had received part of it from a Moa
man. It is perhaps worthy of note that Wanu (15 A), and the brothers Baton and
Groggy (15) belong to Areb, and Enoka to Er (18 A).)
( Version B.)
Four brothers, Bomai (Malu)1, Seo, (Seii, Seiu or Seau), Sigar, and Kulka
(Kolka), left their native island, Muralug, each in his own canoe, and went to Tutu,
where Bomai 'did bad' with the women2, though his eldest3 brother Sigar told him
uot to do so.
Next they came to a big coral reef, named Tediu, between Waraber and Paremar,
where they anchored4. The wind rose, and soon it blew so hard that the anchor-rope
of Sigar's canoe broke, and he called out to his brothers, " I drift away." Ultimately
he was stranded on Yam or Am, as the Miriam call it. The three other canoes went
on to Aurid, where Kulka said he would remain.
Bomai and Seo proceeded to Masig. Now Bomai, the eldest of the four brothers,
' did bad ' with the women of that island. Seo expostulated with him. This so
enraged Bomai that he took a long spear (bager) and thrust it through Seo from
behind, with such force that the spear came out in front : he then threw the body
into the sea. The inhabitants of Masig, however, took it up and put it in the bush.
Bomai set sail for Mer, but, encountering bad weather, the canoe broke all to
pieces on Saper reef, which lies south-west of Mer. With the assistance of a gunwale
board from the bow of the canoe, he swam to Mer and landed at Begegiz, a village
at the south-west of Mer, that is hard by Umar*.
The men of the Dauereb le community, who inhabit that part of the island, seized
him and said, "You stop here, we will go and look for food for you." Before they
went they built a stone fence, kegar kar, round Bomai ; but he took the board and
returned to the sea, and swam to Dauar. The tide however was running very strong
and it carried him to Kameri-nor reef.
The Giar people saw him and when they had caught him, they erected a rope-
1 In order to secure uniformity I here use the word Bomai, but it must distinctly be understood that in
nearly every account this individual is called Malu, or Malo. I have been greatly exercised in my mind over
this circumstance : my own conviction is that Bomai was too sacred a name to be uttered lightly ; everyone
might and did know about Malu, consequently in the legends that were, so to speak, common property, the
name of Malu was introduced, but initiates would certainly be correctly informed, and it was only rarely, and
under favourable circumstances, that I obtained more precise information. Groggy called him Bomai in Version A.
2 Enoka said, " Bomai, he wild, he steal women all the time, he good zogo."
3 I gather this was the eldest of the other three.
4 In Enoka's version they first went to the sand-bank, Uper, Coco-nut Eeef ; Bomai sat apart from the other
zogo le, but overheard them saying that he was "no good." Sigar said he would go to Yam, Kulka said he
would go to Aurid, and Seo said he would go to Masig. I have also a statement by Enoka that they 'yarned'
at Long Island, Sasi or Zerg.
5 According to Enoka, Bomai landed first at Gigired on Mer, and then went to Giar and Ormei on Dauar,
thence to Ne and Zi on Waier, later on to Begegiz, and finally to Terker; see also Vol. in. p. 234.
38 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
fence, beriberi kar, round him, and said, "All right, YOU stop, we will go and get food
for you." Bomai said " yes." When they went, he went too.
Bomai swam in deep water, and the tide took him to Sauri6d, in the bay of
Ormei. Here also the men seized him, and made a stone-fence, kegar kar, round him,
and went to get food.
Bomai got away and the tide took him to the sand spit of Waier, the men there
erected a tree fence round him, but he got away. Then he went to Ne and the same
thing happened again.
(I now continue the legend, making a compilation of all the versions known to me :
one of these was published by myself in Folk-Lore (i. 1890, pp. 181, 193), and another
by the Rev. A. E. Hunt, Journ. Anth. Imt. XXVIH., 1898, p. 13.)
(Continuation compiled from all Accounts.)
Bomai came to Terker on the south side of Mer. On the hill behind Terker, at
a place called Aud1, there was only one house which was inhabited by a man named
D6g and his wife Kabur.
Kabur was line-fishing for garom at low water at the edge of the reef at Terker
when Bomai came up in the form of a canoe, and Kabur thought a canoe had come
from Waier. While she was looking at it Bomai turned into drift-wood, sap, and
Kabur said, "This is wood here, where is the canoe*?" Next he turned into a whale,
and then into a dugong, and looked at Kabur, and finally he transformed himself into
an octopus, arti', and came close to Kabur, and had a good look at her. Kabur stood
half submerged on the reef and micturated, then Bomai swam beneath her buoyant
petticoat, and, entwining his arms round her body and thighs, had connection with her.
He left her with a retreating wave, and then returned twice in a similar manner, but
at the third time of his coming to her, Kabur took a wooden skewer, kus keg, out of
her basket and speared Bomai in the eye, and pulling him out of the water put him
in her basket, epei, and returned home. Kabur said, "Dog&ra oa," when putting Bomai
in her basket, and there is at Terker a hole in the reef in which the water sucks
up and down and still says " dogSra oa*."
Dog was in his house and Kabur called out to him as she came, " Dog, I have
caught an octopus, I don't know, but I think it is a zogo," and she described all the
details of its capture. Dog took the octopus, which was red all over5, out of the basket
and put it in a rock pool. Dog was very pleased, and painted himself red from head
to foot. Bomai made a noise and moved his arms, and D6g said that was "medicine,"
puripuri, and Kabur said, "Yes," and told her husband about the canoe and drift-wood,
1 There is a small clump of bamboos at this place, such as is always to be found at the spots sacred to
Malu. Like Begegiz, this spot is held in reverence as being the place where Malu was first housed.
2 Enoka said, Bomai also turned himself into a mangrove fruit which bobbed up and down in the water,
and into zaibu fruit, and the fruit of the tauar.
3 Groggy told Dr Myers that Bomai changed himself into a whale, dugong, drift-wood, turtle (nam), shark'
(beizam), and octopus.
4 This spot belongs to Barsa (20).
6 One informant told Dr Myers that "arti took 2030 fashion," probably referring to the ceremonial red
coloration ; all the cephalopoda can change colour in a remarkable manner.
\
FOLK-TALES. 39
and then changed her wet petticoat for a dry one. They took Bomai out of the pool and
put him in a basket and skewered it up, and went home, and hung up the basket. Then
they said to one another, "You and me no sleep, keep quiet, we watch that thing."
These two watched, and watched, and watched, and at midnight the octopus inside
the basket made a clicking noise like that of a gba rattle, and the two said, " Ah ! "
and the octopus crawled out of the basket, its eyes shining like stars. "Sh — h," said
the two in fear, as they looked on, and they clung together and whispered. The
octopus fell to the ground, and immediately was transformed into the man Bomai, who
picked up a couple of as shells (Cassis) that were in the house, and rubbed them
together, and the tree-frogs and the kitotos (? locusts or cicadas) were all making similar
noises in the bush. Bomai went out of the house and walked all round the island,
through Las and round as far as Gigo, then he returned along the same road by
which he had come ; when he arrived at Terker, he left the as shells outside the door
of the house and went in. He made the same clicking noise, and his eyes gleamed
as he turned into an octopus and crawled into the basket.
Next morning Dog said to Kabur, " You brought a good thing from the water,
I am glad I've got him." Dog painted himself red all over, and put on a very large
arm-guard, kadik ; on his head he put on a small coronet of cassowary feathers, wer sam,
and some black-tipped white feathers of the Torres Straits pigeon, and otherwise decorated
himself; in his hand he carried five sticks1. Kabur also painted herself and put on
several petticoats, and various ornaments, including sabagorar (pi. XVI. fig. 1); she re-
mained in the house while Dog followed the footprints of Bomai as far as Gigo2, and like
him returned the same way that he had gone. D6g asked if anything had happened
during his absence, and Kabur said " No." The Murray Island men noticed Dbg's
behaviour and said, " I don't know what made him do it. I think he has something
in his house," and they had a long yarn about it. The men told Dam, and Samekgp8,
Kabur's younger brothers, to inquire into the matter. The two brothers agreed between
themselves to take seme food to Kabur as an excuse and to have a look round, and to
steal the object if they could. So they went to see Kabur, and brought her a present
of tup fish, without asking for anything : ' they yarned and yarned.' At sundown Kabur
asked, "You two go?" "No," they replied, "it's too dark, we sleep here; to-morrow
we go." " That best," their sister replied, and they retired to rest, the two brothers
occupying a separate bed. They did not sleep, but kept watch. In due time they saw
the light shining from the eyes of the octopus. " Ulloa ! " they said, " we find him
out now." They painted themselves. Dam said, "no talk." Bomai came out, walked
round the island, and returned into his basket. Then the brothers went into the bush
and yarned. "Now we catch him," Dam said, "I take him." The other said, "No!"
"Yes," he replied, "I take him now."
1 Enoka Baid that the kebi nei (small name) of these sticks was siwaimer, and their au ne (big name) was
zogo kale, but the latter term really signifies "very sacred."
2 Enoka said that the first day Dog went as far as Nanipat, where he rested, and then returned ; the next
day he reached Begegiz, where he rested and returned ; and on the last day he rested at Dedamud. Another
informant gave the following places : Banr, Begegiz, and Eipket at Gigo-pat.
3 Dam was said to belong to the Bezam boai, and Samekep to the Zagareb. In Pasi's version, Vol. HI. p. 236
the latter is called Saremekeb.
40 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
In the morning Kabur said, "When you two go?" "We go now," they replied.
Kabur gave them some food, and they went into the bush and hid the food, and
secretly watched what was going on. D6g once more painted himself with red, put on
a large arm-guard, kadik, and carried the five sticks, while he again followed Bomai's
track. Kabur painted herself, put on plenty of petticoats and ornaments, and stayed
behind to guard the door of the house.
The two brothers creeping noiselessly to the rear of the house, began to remove
the thatch, and through the hole thus made, Dam entered, and cut the string which
suspended the basket, which he passed through the hole for Sameke'p to hold. When
Dam got outside he wanted Sameke'p to give up the basket as he had taken it ; but
Sameke'p said to Dam, "You go and get a drum and we will dance." Sameke'p put
on the Boraai1.
Dam took a drum, and Sameke'p danced. Dam again asked for the octopus.
Sameke'p said "No, the drum is good enough for you2." The brothers left Bomai at
Dam, which was their place. As they were returning thither the Las men called out
to the brothers, " You got him now ? " They said, " Yes."
D6g went round the island as far as Gigo, and having run quickly he was very
tired ; he noticed that his body did not perspire as usual, so he feared something was
amiss at home, and he suspected that his brothers-in-law had stolen his zogo. ('Heart
along him think these two fellows steal my thing, as my body no feel good all same
as other day.') Then he walked home and Kabur assured him no one had come, but
on going round the house they noticed that the thatch had been removed, and then
they discovered the zogo had been stolen. Dog took his bow and arrows, and
further armed himself with large sharks' teeth fastened on to a stick. Kabur took
a kus bager, or sharp piece of kus wood, and together they went to Las, and talked
to the people of that village.
Dam and Sameke'p were accused of stealing the zogo and they admitted having
done so. The Las men gave D5g a pipe of tobacco3 to smoke, 'and they were friends.'
They said, "This belong man, send woman away." Dog said, "All right, you keep him."
2. The Coming of Barat.
The Omai le (dog men), Daumer le (pigeon men), Geregere le (Geregere — bird men),
Bezant le (shark men), Wazwaz le* (Wazwaz — shark men), and Zagareb, all came from
Tuger, each clan in its own canoe, and went to Boigu to ask the people where Bomai
had gone. The Boigu men said, "Yes, he came here, and we caught him, and built
a fence round him, but when we danced he went away." The men of these six clans
1 There appears to be some confusion here between the octopus (which it was at that particular time), and
the mask which subsequently represented Bomai.
2 In Pasi's version (Vol. in. p. 236) Samekep is called Zagareb le and drum man, and Dam beizam le and
dance man ; the parts seem reversed in the above version, as the Xagareb le are the drum men. Pasi's account
is also obscure ; he makes the brothers stop at Keugiz, Gebadar Kobi, and the hill Gazir on their way from
And to Dam.
3 Tobacco is mentioned in several versions, which points to its use prior to the coming of Europeans.
4 Wazwaz is an undetermined fish, described as a " shark with whiskers and a very small eye."
FOLK-TALES. 41
asked where he went to, and they followed his wanderings from island to island'. With
them also came Nagirum le from Nagir, Sigarum le" from Yam and Tutu, and men from
the islands of Waraber, Paremar, Aurid, and Masig.
On coming to Mer, they asked a man at Deiau where Bomai was; he replied, "I don't
know, I no catch him, I think he go to small island." So they went on to Dauar, whence
they were sent on to Waier. Then they returned to Mer and went off in a canoe to bring
Barat from Moa.
When they came Barat humbugged the people, and according to the fashion of olden
times he tied a rope round the tail of a kamosar3. Then he stood up in the canoe and said
he was going to make "medicine," puripuri, and to make dugong, turtle, and any kind
of fish. He next closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, "Ulloa!" he cried, "I am making
a sucker-fish," gep. When he had made it, he said they would all go ashore, and make
small wooden models of dugong, turtle, and crayfish, and they named them, and rubbed
them with ' medicine plants,' and put them in baskets. Barat then took a feather of
the eagle, waridub lub, and placed it behind his right ear, and spake to all the people,
"All you and me go to the other side."
The nine canoes that came from Moa went, and they anchored in deep water. Barat
opened his basket, and gave sucker-fish to everyone, and when he had finished, he stood
up in his place in the stern of his canoe, and called out, "You fellows, look well at this
crayfish," and he took out the crayfish, and put it in the sea, and it swam up from the
deep water and came alongside the canoe. The people said, "Barat, the crayfish are all
here. What shall we do with them?" ("which way I go make him?"). To this Barat
replied, "Catch him." So they caught them, and put them in the canoes. Barat again
called out, "All you fellows look out, the turtle are corning, you throw out your sucker-fish
towards the turtle." The turtle came up close to the bow of the canoe, and the men
said, "Barat, the turtle have come up here, how are we to catch them?" and Barat
told them how to catch the turtle by means of the sucker-fish.
Barat called out, " You look out, take charge of all dugong. You fellow look out
sucker-fish, sucker-fish catch him." The men replied, "Barat, the dugong is too big, we
fellow can't catch him." Barat said, "Put a kimus (arrow- point) in the nose of the dugong
and it will die, then you can lift it up and put it in your canoe."
The men caught a turtle and gave it to Barat, then they went to Moa and had
a meeting on the shore. The men said, "Barat, we want to take you to Murray Island."
"All right," he replied, "you take my turtle, I will go in another canoe."
The canoes had a race. Barat's canoe was the first to arrive at Murray Island, it
went round the island and the crew left Barat at Er. The other canoes with the turtle
came round later, and gave the turtle to Barat.
On referring to the tale of Bia in Volume v. p. 44, it will be at once evident that
this is a variant of that folk-tale ; both refer to a Western Islander who introduced the
1 The narrative was very prolix here, and it virtually repeated in detail all the information previously given
concerning the wanderings of Bomai.
- So called from Sigar, Sikar or Sigai, the brother of Malu, p. 35. Of. Vol. v. pp. 64, 375.
3 This is a fish that lives in crevices of the rock in deep water ; some called it a kind of dog-fish. Cf.
Vol. v. p. 44.
H. Vol. VI. 6
42 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
method of catching turtle by means of the sucker-fish [Echeneis naucrates; gapu (W),
yep (E)], instead of by the former method of employing a kumsar (W), kamosar (E).
Groggy evidently regarded this story of Barat as part of the Bomai saga, as it
followed without a break his account of the migration of the six clans and of the
Nagirum U, and Sigarum le to Mer. The remaining portion of the legend, which was
told to me by Warm and Baton, purported to be the story of Barat, but it may, with
equal propriety, be termed 'The Introduction of the Malu Dances.'
There is a small vertical stone of volcanic ash, surmounted by a Strombus shell, in
a garden at Kingob on Mer (pi. IV. fig. 2), which is said to represent Barat, but the
connection is not obvious.
3. The Coming of Malu, or
The Introduction of the Malu Dances.
Malu came in the canoe with the Sigarum le, and when they and the Nagirum le
arrived at Giar1, on Dauar, they anchored and slept.
They asked the Dauar men where Bomai stopped. All the Dauar men said, "Bomai
he stop at Las"; and they added that they would know where he was as at that place
all the coco-nuts were red.
The canoes went to Werbadu, on Mer, and the men asked Ger, who lived there, to
give them some water. He gave them some to drink, and the Nagirum le gave him
a large turtle, nam. Then they sat on the beach, and beat their drums, and sang the
Bomai used (sacred Bomai songs).
They said to Ger, " Where is father ? " (" Baba nade 1 " meaning Bomai). Ger replied,
" You fellow see where all coco-nuts are red, there father stop."
The men then went to Er and saw Barat2, they asked him to show them where
there was some water, and he showed them the water in Erpat, and after they had
drunk some, they sat down, beat their drums, and sang the Bomai wed, which they
taught to Barat, and they gave him a moderate-sized turtle. They said to him, " Barat,
where father he stop?" Barat replied, " Father he stop where all the coco-nuts are red."
The men went out in their canoes over the reef at Wabkek, and saw the red
coco-nut trees, so they went towards Las and landed at Dam. All the men at Dam
came to the canoes and took the Nagirum le and Sigarum le ashore and spread mats
upon which the strangers sat down. The Dam men went into the bush to get food to give
1 One informant said that the men went first to Deiau on Mer (probably he should have said Begegiz), then
they went to Dauar, thence to Waier, and finally once more to Mer.
2 The following is the version given to me by Enoka. Some of the canoes went to Werner pit, but some
stopped at Er, and asked Sorkar (Surkar or Sarkar), "Where Bomai?" Him he say, "Bomai go, stop at Las;
coco-nut, mair-u, belong Bomai red paint ; you stop there." Sorkar gave them some water. The Kur/irum le
and Sigarum le gave Sorkar a small turtle, meri/ai. They all danced and sang, and beat the icarup, drum, and
when they had finished they went away. Sorkar and Barat seem to be one and the same person. Sorkar is
also a fish-charm (see Magic); he is represented by a stone on a cairn at the beach at Er (pi. I. fig. 1), the
flat oblong perforated stone leaning against the cairn is said to be the stone anchor of one of the canoes that
came in search of Bomai.
FOLK-TALES. 43
to them. The mats were arranged in a row and the men of each clan sat on their
respective mats in this order : Omai le, Dimmer le, Oeregere le, Zagareb, Beizam boai,
Wazwaz. The Las and Dam men continually gave food and water to the visitors, who
stayed for so long a time, that at last their hosts grumbled and said, " Why do they not
give us a dance ? We give them food all the time, and our shoulders are sore with
carrying the food." Then the visitors consulted together, and all the members of each
clan returned to their several canoes, where, out of sight of the Murray Islanders, they
painted and decorated themselves. On their return to the sand-beach outside the village
of Las they danced in the following order.
The Omai le were dressed up as dogs, and imitated their ways, they landed, gave
a single dance, and then remained in one place.
The Daumer le lauded, mimicked the behaviour of Torres Straits pigeons in a single
dance, and then remained in one place.
The Geregere le landed, danced by imitating the birds after which they were named,
and then remained in one place.
The Zagareb landed and jumped, two men beat the two sacred Malu drums, "wasikor"
(pi. XVII. fig. 1) and "nemau," the other men had clubs; they sang their sacred songs.
FIG. 12. The Malu shark placed on the logs.
The Beizam boai landed and danced and called out " ba ba ba."
The Wazwaz did the same.
The Tami leb and the Zogo le came, dressed in the way that was subsequently
copied and perpetuated, the latter wearing the zogo kadik (pi. XVII. fig. 2), and thus
for the first time in Mer was performed this ceremony1.
The Nagirum le and Sigarum le 'yarned' and said, "This ginar (dance) belong
you, belong Bomai and Malu."
Malu stopped in the canoe off Dam. The Nagirum le, and some say the Sigarum
le also, speared him in the back, so that the point of the spear, teg tut, came out on
the other side, and his entrails fell out — these they kept ; then they threw him into the
sea, and he was a shark, but before that, when he was in the canoe, he was a man
with a shark's head.
A Las man took charge of him, and brought him to the shore, and placed him
on two coco-nut logs which were laid crosswise on two others ; large clam shells, miskor,
were placed on the ground at the ends of the logs (fig. 12).
All the Miriam le collected a great quantity of food and left it in one place and
1 These were subsequently employed in all the Malu ceremonies; nemau was burnt in later years by the
crew of the " Woodlark " ; but wasikor is still in Mer.
6—2
44 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
said to the Nagirum le and Sigarum le, " Here is food for you " ; and they replied,
"To-morrow morning we go back to Masig, Aurid, Paremar, Waraber, Tutu, Yam, and
Nagir." All went back.
One informant said that Tagai saw Malu close to deep water and took him to
Dam where he placed him (the shark) across two logs of ubar wood at the ends of
which the four miskor were placed. Pasi informed me that a Nagirum le man speared
Malu with a canoe-pole, and threw him in the sea. Tagai picked up Malu on the
reef at low water, and placed him on two coco-nut trunks, and put four miskor at
their ends.
This is the most important of the Miriam legends as it narrates the origin of the
famous and sacred Malu cult. It was extraordinarily difficult to obtain a connected and
intelligible account of the series of events herein narrated, and I cannot feel confident
that I have recorded the whole story. There are many minor variations in the accounts
given by various informants, some of which I suspect are the versions that belong, so-to-
speak, to certain localities or persons.
As mentioned on p. 66 of Vol. v., there is a culture-hero cycle in Torres Straits
which accounts for the hero cults of Yam, Aurid, Masig and Mer. I have previously
given a very imperfect account of the origin of the combined totem and hero shrines
of Sigai and Maiau or Yam. The Aurid and Masig legends are unrecorded and are
probably lost for ever. The Miriam myth is here recorded as fully as possible.
The cycle deals with the history of certain brothers of unknown origin. One version
makes them come from Tuger in New Guinea, evidently this is the country of the
dreaded head-hunting Tugeri, somewhere west of the Netherlands — British boundary.
Another version brings them from Muralug, and the Yam version (v. 64) gives them
a southern origin. On the whole a New Guinea origin seems more probable than one
affected by Australian influence, but on the other hand one must not forget the un-
doubted Australian affinities of the great Kwoiam (v. 80, 81). The story of this warrior
has, however, less of the supernormal than has that of the Malu cycle. Bomai is
protean in his metamorphoses ; on one occasion it appears as if the canoe into which
he was changed gave birth to two men, who thereafter ranked as " brothers " to Bomai ;
but this is matched by the birth of a large sea-snake from Sigai and of various animals
from Maiau (v. 66).
I am afraid we are never likely to find out to what all this points. The only
suggestion I can offer is that a migration of some sort took place from New Guinea
to Aler through the Western Islands ; it does not appear to have been a movement
of conquest or aggression as there are no indications of strife. All we hear of is the
wandering of certain culture-heroes, who severally established themselves on certain
islands, and they or their followers introduced a new cult which considerably modified
the antecedent totemism. The syncretism that appears to have occurred at Yam seems
to be manifest also in Mer.
An interesting question is raised as to the nature of the movement indicated by
the spread of this hero-cult. Among the Western Islanders there are several tales of
culture-heroes who teach improved methods of cultivation like Zawar (v. 36) or im-
proved methods of fishing like Bia (v. 44) who, by-the-by, went to Muralug and
FOLK-TALES. 45
taught the people there. But what is more to the point, Naga and Waiat (v. 48)
introduced certain death-dances from New Guinea to Daru, and Naga visited Uga,
an Eastern Island near Erub, and then Tutu where he instructed the men how to
perform the death-dances. Probably it was the same Naga who was the master of
ceremonies in Nagir (v. 49), and Waiat of Mabuiag went to Nagir for religious
instruction. Tabu (v. 55) went from Nagir to Muralug where he introduced dances
in which masks were employed. Kari (v. 55) danced from Daudai to the Tugeri
country. There appears to have been great willingness on the part of the islanders
to learn new sacred dances and as great a readiness on the part of their instructors
to teach them. The Islanders were undoubtedly originally in a totemic stage of social
and religious culture — perhaps this was on the wane among the Eastern Islanders,
if not among the Western, before the movement under discussion arose. A hero-
cult with masked performers and elaborate dances spread from the mainland of New
Guinea to the adjacent islands ; part of this movement seems to have been associated
with a funeral ritual that emphasised a life after death. The new cults possessed
then two elements of strength : individualism, and the assurance of immortality. In
secular life, mother-right had almost totally disappeared before father-right, and
chieftainship was emerging (v. 265 — 7). A religion that replaced the indefinite
communal association of a totem with its clan, by a definite personal relation with a
super-human individual, appeared from abroad at this critical juncture, and it was no
wonder that it spread, being carried from island • to island. The social effect of the
new religion would be to weld together the participants irrespective of totemic clans,
and hence a national life would result from a national religion. The exuberance of
social life thus induced would, under certain circumstances, manifest itself in fighting,
and thus it is not surprising that in Yam, Sigai and Maiau assisted their followers
mainly in fighting. The Yam-Tutu people were as a matter of fact noted for their
aggressiveness, indeed the European name of the latter island is Warrior Island. These
islands are situated in the very middle of the Torres Straits so there were plenty
of neighbours with whom to quarrel or make friends. Mer was so isolated that it hail
comparatively few relations with the islands to the west, and here the hero-cult
developed on different lines.
But the Bomai-Malu cult was not the only religious influence from the west. Most
of the funeral ceremonies and many sacred songs admittedly came from the west. This
does not look like a conquest by force, and so far as our information goes there is
not the slightest trace in tradition or elsewhere of secular aggression.
An interesting parallel to these hero-cults of Torres Straits occurred also in Fiji.
The people of Viti-Levu are divided into two groups, the Kai Veisina and the Kai
Rukuruku, who trace their descent from Veisina and Rukuruku, who drifted across the
Big Ocean and taught to the people the cult associated with the large stone enclosures,
Nanga. Veisina arrived first, and where he landed the turmeric plant sprang up, and
where Rukuruku first placed his foot the candle-nut grew. Their followers paint them-
selves respectively with the yellow or black pigments obtained from these plants. When
they landed they said, " Let us go to the Chief of Vitongo and ask him to divide his
men between us that we may teach them the Nanga, for which purpose we have come
46 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
to Fiji." The last sentence points to a definite propaganda, and one is almost tempted
to suggest that a similar movement may also have taken place in Torres Straits. (" The
Nanga of Viti-Levu," by A. B. Joske, Internal. Arch. / Ethnogr. n., 1889, p. 258.)
There are several parallels between the Bomai legends of Mer and the Yam-Tutu
legend ; for example, the heroes readily transformed themselves into animals ; on arrival
at their final destination they were discovered by women who informed their husbands
that they had found something remarkable ; and they preferred certain kinds of mats to
sit upon.
As is pointed out elsewhere, I regard the numerous stones of Western origin in
Mer, that were associated with various zogo and shrines, as belonging, on the whole, to
an older stratum of culture than that now under consideration.
19. THE NAM ZOGO.
[Compiled from various accounts.]
Two brothers, named Wakai and Kuskus, who were the headmen of Babud, sent
round word that they wanted to go turtle-fishing at Kerget sand-bank. A number of
Komet men and Babud men and two Erub (Darnley Island) men who were there, volun-
teered, and immediately got their canoes ready, and loaded them with food, bamboo and
coco-nut water vessels, mats and firewood.
On arriving at Kerget they took everything out of the canoes and hauled them
on to the sand-bank, and made a shelter over the canoes, with the mats.
The men looked about for turtle, but could not find any : they walked round the
sand-bank, but could not find any : they looked out to sea, but could not find any.
On the sand-bank was a Nam zogo1, and a man named Maiwer went to it and
said, " What kind of fashion belong you two ? We fellow come, we no get turtle : you
two fellows no savvy we fellow we got no meat " : and he abused the Nam zogo, saying,
" You no sorry, you bad ; you no good, I don't know what kind you two are."
The two Nam zogo, who are like mar, or lamar, that is spirits, told the turtle to
copulate in the sea2, and all the turtle came, they were "fast," and they floated on the
sea: the sea was full of turtle.
The men looked out to sea and cried, " All turtle he fast now," and they launched
a canoe, into which all the men got, and they paddled out to sea. Each of the two
men in the bow fastened a rope to his right upper arm, in order that the rest of
the crew might pull him into the canoe when one had seized the male, and the other
the female turtle. Two turtles floated by, and lifted up their heads and looked the
two men in the face and then sank. The crew paddled on, and two other men tied
on the ropes and went to the bow of the canoe. The same pair of turtles floated
by again and looked the two men in the face and dived again into the sea. The
same thing happened time after time, until all the men had gone forward except
1 Apparently the zogo consisted of effigies of a male and female turtle.
- When the turtle copulate, or are " fast " as the natives express it, they float on the surface of the sea,
and are readily caught.
FOLK-TALKS. 47
Maiwer, who was steering. The men said to him, "Maiwer, you only are left. We
all try: we think turtle no want us to catch them. Good thing you try; we all got
bad luck."
Maiwer went forward and tied a rope round his arm and stood up in the bow.
The men paddled towards the floating turtles : they looked up and saw the face of
the man who had talked to the zogo. They put down their heads but remained floating
on the water. Maiwer jumped into the sea and caught hold of the female turtle by
her back, and she sank down, carrying Maiwer with her. The male turtle swam away,
but came back and fastened himself on the back of the man, and took the rope off
his arm. Thus was Maiwer held tightly between the two turtles1. They dived, and the
three came up to the surface, but Maiwer could not free himself, so he called out to
his friends, "You fellow help me. What matter you fellow?" They dived down again
and a third turtle joined itself to the others.
When they came up to the surface Maiwer again called out for help : but the
men were afraid.
The turtles sank down and were joined by a fourth one, with Maiwer in the middle
of them all.
When they came up to the surface once more, the half-drowned Maiwer called
out, " All you fellow my friend, help me ! I close up die ! " They sank, but when they
came tip to the surface again, Maiwer did not talk : he was dead.
The turtle rubbed all the skin off his body and limbs. (This state was described
as ' no skin, all meat : his skin like you fellow skin, he white body now.') The turtle
took Maiwer to Garboi, a reef to windward of Mazeb kaur (Bramble Cay), and left his
remains in the middle of the bush.
The canoe returned to Kerget and the men cried, and when they had finished
Wakai and Kuskus said, " You and me start now for Mer. No good we stop, we lose
one man." So they made ready and started.
At sundown they stopped at a dangerous reef2, and speared some small fish. Black
clouds gathered from the north-west and the wind blew fiercely, and all the men cried
out that it would be best to make for the shelter of the big reef, Marirar, and anchor
there, for they were afraid of the storm.
They anchored all their canoes, and at sundown the rain poured and the wind
blew, and everyone was afraid. The anchor-ropes of all the canoes broke except that
•of the canoe of Wakai and Kuskus, which was very strong and was made of sireb3.
They called out to the other men, "All you fellow come and stand-by canoe of we
two, and make fast to stern," and they made fast their canoes to the two ropes of
the canoe of the two brothers.
The men kept watch and could not sleep on account of the wind and the rain.
At last, in the middle of the night, the rope of the brothers' canoe snapped, and
Kuskus called out, " Brother, my rope broke, more better we go back to sand-bank."
So, without raising the masts, they put up a short mat-sail and started for Kerget,
1 One informant said, "I think him (the turtles) lamar (spirits)."
- One informant thus described it, " reef got bad place, Wabilet Giaulet, all same zoijo reef."
:i Entada scandens, the Queensland Bean, a climbing, leguminous plant.
48 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
which they missed in the dark. The men in the various canoes went any way they
could, they all tried to save themselves.
At daybreak Wakai and Kuskus and the men of the other canoes found them-
selves close to Garboi, and one shouted out, " Garboi right ahead ! " The wind was fair,
so they fetched Garboi, and hauled the canoe ashore.
There were plenty of bushes on the island, but no water, and the men were very
thirsty ; they cooked and ate a number of fish and lay down on the sand, and the
sand burned them. There was a dead calm and the sun shone with a fierce heat.
The men put mats over their canoes to screen them and they lay in the shade
with swollen parched tongues. They caught a turtle and made a framework1 under
which they lit a fire and on which they boiled the turtle with sea water, in its
own shell.
The friend of Maiwer walked about the island and came across the remains of
the drowned man : by this time the flesh had disappeared and there was no odour.
He picked up the bones and put them all in order in one place. When the body
was duly laid out he cried to himself as he was very sorry, and then he said to the
bones of Maiwer, " Before you no die, you my good friend, well friend you help me.
It was your fault, you scolded Nam zogo, so you come here. I find your bones. You
feel sorry for me. I got plenty food and turtle, I hard up for water. If you good
friend belong me, well, you find me water."
Then he returned to the canoes and taking a piece of wood for a pillow, he went
to sleep on the sand under the shadow of a canoe.
Maiwer came to him, in the guise of a kriskris bird2 which flew on the top of
the canoe and hopped about, and, as it were in a dream, Maiwer3 spoke to him and
said, " My friend you and me stop together before I die, I left you because the turtle
killed me, I come to Garboi, I look this place, I very glad it nice place. You talk
to me my friend and ask me for water. This place got water, I can show you. You
sorry for me when I in water, I sorry for you now. You walk about, water here close
to you, some grass belong sand cover over water-hole, grass and pumice, like fence,
water underneath4. You can't find it. Suppose you get up, you follow me, I go first,
you come behind. Breakfast time and dinner time you fellow drink, you leave it in
afternoon, no fellow go in afternoon, other times (that is, except morning and evening)
two Nam zogo come and make water red5."
Maiwer's friend opened his eyes and got up and saw the kriskris, which hopped
and stood still and hopped again : then the kriskris flew into the bush and the man
followed it, and as he went he broke twigs as marks, as he did not want to lose
his way.
1 I think four men named Guui, Akodan, Kokob and Mauki made this framework or paier.
- A cuckoo, Chrysococcyx lucidus.
3 One informant said that the kriskris made a chattering noise like the knocking of teeth together, which
I have been told is the manner in winch spirits talk: and Maiwer no longer appeared as bird, but resumed his
human form.
4 The vegetated sand-banks of Torres Straits are more or less overgrown with a rank grass, and innumerable
pieces of pumice are scattered all over the islets.
* Another version was: "You no find water! He close to small stone, bush on top. You no drink at high
tiile, then two fellow come. Only drink at low tide. No drink all day or harm come to you."
FOLK-TALES. 49'
The bird flew down into a water-hole, chirping " kris, kris," but the man could
not see that there was a water-hole there, as the grass and pumice covered it
over. The man walked over it and his two feet sunk into the water, then he sat
down, removed the grass and pumice and 'drink, drink'; then he exclaimed, "My word!
that friend belong me, I find him water." He returned by the same way that he
came, and saw Wakai and Kuskus and all his friends lying asleep and he felt sorry
for them, ' they half-tight, hard up for water.'
He returned to the canoe and took some red earth that comes from New Guinea
and painted his belly with it and rubbed black ashes over the rest of his body : he
made a belt with rope from the canoe and took some cassowary feathers from the
ornaments of the canoe and stuck them into the belt behind1, and taking a small
ezer- shell, he hopped about like his bird-friend. And as he danced, he awakened
his companions and called out to them, he felt so strong, " You fellow get up and
eat turtle meat, we go to Mer now. You fellow get up. What make you sick ? "
A man heard him and lifted up his head and said, " What good him ? What for
that fellow flash (decorated) ? He talk about eat turtle. When the wind come, we go
to Mer." And he lay down again. The men could do nothing but lie down, they were
so ' hungry for water.'
Maiwer's friend awakened all the men and persuaded them to follow him ; so they
got up, and when they had rubbed all the sand off their bodies, he took them to the
water-hole. They said to him, " You good friend belong we fellow now you show us
water-hole." He said, " I got water from friend belong me, I tell you fellow," and
then he told them how that the kriskns had said that they must not drink the water
during the day ; they might drink in the morning and evening, but not in the after-
noon. He ended by saying, " the lamar (spirit), told me about two thing I no savvy ^
we watch him."
After the men had drunk their fill, they returned to the canoes and ate the turtle
and yarned. Wakai and Kuskus said they should all make wooden human figures,
with carved faces ; this they did, all of them fashioning their images in a crouching
attitude with their elbows resting on their knees and their forearms raised vertically,
and each man put his own name on to the image he had carved3.
When this was done Wakai and Kuskus said they would return the next day to
Mer : so they filled their bamboo and coco-nut water-vessels with water from the water-
hole, and made ready their canoes. When they had finished they went to sleep.
Next morning they went all over the island to hunt for turtle : they found some,
and turned them over on their backs and hauled them back to the canoes and there
was one for each canoe.
In the afternoon they all said they would go to the water-hole to see what would
happen, and they took a mat with them and a long wooden skewer.
When the two Nam zogo came into the water-hole to make it red, the men seized
1 I was definitely told that the decoration was in imitation of the bird.
- Melon or baler shell, Melo diadema. This shell is used as a pan, cooking vessel, receptacle for water, etc.
; I think that Kokop and Mauki cut down the tree which supplied the wood for the images.
H. Vol. VI. 7
50 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
them, and wrapping the mat round them, skewered it securely and carried them off
and put them in the stern of Wakai's canoe. They slept.
Next morning they hauled their canoes into the sea and shipped their gear and
turtles, and a fair wind carried them to Kerget where they passed that night. The
next day they fetched Mer.
An old woman named Irado, who lived by herself at Tomaba, between Werbadu
and Terker, went to dig in the soil at Werbadu pit and found a rope-like root. She
dug and dug and could not find any tubers, so she followed the root across the
island, over the hill of Zaumo, or Zaum paser, and down the centre of the island
through Korkar to the hill behind Kop and Babud, and there she found the clusters
of tubers. She was now very hot and tired and she put down her basket, and sat
down herself, and she saw the K6met and Babud women sitting on the seashore,
bewailing their menfolk, believing them to be lost. And they cried over the things
belonging to the men, as they prepared the funeral feast and made ready for the
death -dance.
Irado looked out to sea and espied the canoes returning, and she -called out to
the K6met and Babud women :
" End Meaurem waba kimiar ra nar tabarki."
Dead Meaurem your husbands' boats are coming out.
(Or, as it was freely translated to me, " Hi ! You fellows, stop your mourning ' All the
canoes are coming from deep water.") " You see them ? " the women shouted in return,
" Yes, they are coming now."
The women ran down into the sea to wash off the grey mud, with which they
had besmeared themselves and despoiled themselves of the rest of their mourning
gear. Then they went into the bush to get food for their men and they cooked it
at Babud. It was fine weather now. Irado picked up her basket and came down to
the beach.
The first canoe landed at Meaurem : the crew put a paddle in the beach and
when they had found a long stone they pulled out the paddle and stuck up the
stone in the hole. Each crew did the same on landing. No one said anything about
the fate of Maiwer.
The men sat on the mats that had been laid down for them, and their women-
folk brought them food.
The wife of Maiwer looked round in vain for her man : by-and-by Maiwer's friend
said to her, " You have lost your man, the turtles killed him." She wept, and all his
relations cried too.
After they had finished eating, the Erub men, who were with the others, asked
to have a zogo. All the Meaurem (Komet Meaurem and Meauremra Babud) said,
" Come on you and me go," and they went up into the bush, but left the Erub men
below on the beach. They took the mat containing the Nam zogo and huug it up
in a tree, and the blood of the zogo ran down. They took two old and very long
coco-nuts and inserted some red wez (croton) leaves into the opening of the husk of
the nuts and carried them down to the beach and gave them to the Erub men, saying,
FOLK -TALES. 51
" This agud, Nam zogo, belongs to you two fellow. When you return to Erub they
will help you to catch turtle. The men in the bow are to pole the canoe, those at
the stern are to paddle. One man must look out well. One man must dive for turtle
and the other men have to pull him up by the rope fastened to his arm. This is
zogo tonar (i.e. zogo fashion)."
The following day the men gave food to the Erub men and the day after that
the Erub men returned home.
The Meaurem and Komet men made a house, pelak, in the bush between Babud
and Mek for the £0*70, which remained there.
A stone top in the Cambridge Museum with a red border round the edge, has
two figures in red and blue, which were said to repre-
sent Wakai and Kuskus (fig. 13).
The zogo were represented by two turtles made
of turtle shell. The Nam zogo were not only effec-
tual in helping men to catch turtle, but they could
kill men, and also make them well. When a man
was ill his friends would go outside the house and
say to them, " Well, you two fellow make so-and-so
better."
Even quite recently, people have wished to summons
before a magistrate others, who, they asserted, ' made
Nam zogo ' (that is performed the requisite ritual or
ceremony at the spot where the Nam zogo pelak
formerly stood), for the purpose of preventing those Fia. 13. Tracing of a top in the Cambridge
against whom they had a spite from catching any Museum, J nat. size,
turtle.
Irado is such an important person that she deserves further mention. She was
not born of a woman but grew out of the earth at a place called Zuz-giri, a rocky,
broken piece of ground which lies between Werbadu and Terker. Her fame rests on
her discovering the root called ketai which is a greatly prized variety of yam, the
tubers of which are similar in size and shape to potatoes. The roots of the ketai
are called teb and the clusters of tubers mot. There are two varieties, the wild and
the ctdtivated. When digging the tubers the original, or parent tuber, is never dis-
turbed, but yearly the new tubers are dug away from it. It is believed that the parent
tuber is everlasting and will keep on producing new tubers for ever if not injured in
any way. The original tuber is called apu ketai, " mother ketai," and the new tubers
are called werem ketai, " children of the ketai." It is believed it was owing to Irado
having sprung from the soil that she knew where to find the root of the ketai and
was able to follow it up for such a long distance ; no mortal could have done so.
Werbadu pit is also called Ketai pit as it is the giz ged, or place of origin, from which
the ketai originally sprang.
Great stress is laid on the words that Irado called out to the women at Kop and
Babud. Putting the word end in the call is said to be Iradora mer ' Irado 's talk ' ;
there was no reason for so doing, it was merely her particular form of expression.
7—2
52 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
Irado had the form of a woman, but had no husband nor children. When she
arrived at Kop, she settled down there and eventually turned herself into the stone that
stands behind that village (pi. IV. fig. 1), the stone beside the upright one is her basket.
There is no zogo connected with Irado, but the stone is lu babat, as it is
reverenced for its antiquity. Irado is not connected with the neighbouring Nam zogo.
Tales about People.
20. DISCOVERY OF THE USE OF COCO-NUTS AS FOOD.
" At Mergar (on Mer) there lived a man named Gedori. One day, seeing that the
coco-nut trees had increased very rapidly, he determined to cut some of them down,
as he was not aware of their value. One of the nuts rolled into the sea, where it
floated about, bobbing up and down. Gedori, thinking it a fish, speared it, the three
prongs of the fish-spear penetrating the holes at the base of the nut. When he found
it was only a nut he threw it angrily down, and the nut was broken open. Seeing
the white kernel inside, he wondered if it was good to eat ; and scraping a little off,
he threw it on the ground, where the ants soon devoured it. Seeing that, he then
tasted a little himself, and, finding it palatable, soon devoured the whole nut. He
then reported the matter to the other natives, who were at first sceptical ; but on
seeing Gedori eat it without apparent harm, they all followed suit, and soon the coco-
nut became one of their chief dishes."
This tale was collected by the Rev. A. E. Hunt (Journ. Anth. Inst. xxvin. 1898,
p. 17); it is somewhat similar to the tale published in Vol. v. p. 103, and like it
purports to describe the occasion of the first eating of a coco-nut. A version of this
tale occurs in the Pasi MS., but Mr Ray was unable to make a satisfactory transla-
tion of it. Gedo, as Pasi writes it, or perhaps more correctly Gedo, gave the scrapings
of the coco-nut first to ants, iserum, and then to many dogs, before he ventured to
taste it ; then finding it edible " he made zogo and tied on a potowak," which, from its
name, may be a belt decorated with opercula.
It is worthy of note that among the Eastern and Western Islanders there is a
story of the discovery of the coco-nut as an edible fruit by an ordinary individual.
In this connection it is interesting to find that whilst the home of the genus to
which the coco-nut palm belongs is in America, the palm (Cocos nucifera) has been
carried around the world through the agencies of man and the currents of the oceans,
originally "perhaps," as Dr H. B. Guppy says (Observations of a Naturalist in the
Pacific, Vol. II., Plant Dispersal, p. 413), "as a gift brought by the Equatorial Current
from the New World to Asia." It has been disputed whether coco-nuts cast up by
the sea on the shore can germinate ; in 1889 a coco-nut that had grown in Mer in this
manner was pointed out to me by some natives as a remarkable sight, and Dr Guppy
(1. c. p. 436) adduces several examples from Fiji. But according to the legends of
Sida (p. 21 and v. 28), that culture-hero, who from his miraculous birth (v. 35, 36)
was connected with coco-nuts and other food plants, introduced coco-nuts into Mer;
on the other hand, Yarwar (v. 37) and Gelam (v. 39) are also reputed to have taken
coco-nuts to Mer.
FOLK-TALES. 53
21. KAPERKAPER, THE CANNIBAL.
There was an old woman named Kaperkaper who lived on the hill at Babud ; and
in the bush to windward, that is to the south-east, lived a widow named Kiar who
had several daughters.
One day Kiar went out of her house and walked about a little bit, then, seeing
it was low tide, she told her daughters to go on to the dried reef to spear fish. So
they took baskets and fish-spears, baur, and went to the reef. When they came to the
sand-beach they took off their petticoats and left them there. They caught some
stone-fish and after some time they began to feel cold and as they had caught enough
fish they thought they would go home ; by this time they had wandered as far as
Babud and when they came to the sand-beach there they sent back Seskip, the youngest
of the sisters, to fetch all the petticoats they had left behind. She did so and put
them all on herself.
In the meantime Kaperkaper came out of her house at Babud ; the sun was then
setting and it was rapidly growing dark, and she said to the girls, "Won't you come
in and sleep in the house ; it is getting dark now ? " They agreed and went into
the house and she told them not to put a leg outside the house. When they were
all fast asleep Kaperkaper brought some fire into the house and put all the girls on
the fire, after having taken a louse [from the head of one of them] and thrown it away.
She ate up all the girls1, but put their bones on one side. When Seskip came to
the house she was so frightened at what she saw, that she hid herself.
Kiar sought her girls and came to Kaperkaper's house and killed her by prodding
her with a fish-spear. Then she found the louse2 and said, "Alloa! you killed my
girls — you put down the louse here and I found it." She then collected the bones of
her daughters and put them all in due order in one place, next she obtained some
green tree-ants (soni) and put them beside the bones" and the girls came back to life,
and they sat down and chatted quietly ('talk small talk'). When Seskip came out of
hiding and rejoined her sisters there was great talking ('got big talk '). Kiar took all
her girls and went home.
Kaperkaper was represented by a stone effigy at Babud which is now in the Cambridge
Collection (pi. VI. figs. 5, 6). It is a female figure, 410 mm. in height, well carved in
vesicular lava. The head, which is absent, has long been broken off, as the fracture is
old. The clavicles are indicated. The arms are flexed so that the hands meet on the
chest. The feet are apposed with soles together in middle line in front. On the back
of the figure a median groove indicates the vertebral column ; the scapula? are indicated
and the hips are prominent. Kaperkaper is also the name of the plant Abrus precatorius,
the seeds of which are known as Crab's eyes, and Seskip is the name of the Turbo shell.
1 The only other record of cannibalism in the Folk-Tales occurs in the story of Nageg and Geigi.
- Although my informant did not say so, there is no doubt that when Kiar found the louse it informed her
what had happened, and probably advised her what steps she should take to recover her daughters. For divina-
tion with a louse see the tale of Nageg and Geigi, p. 17.
3 Cf. the similar incident in the tale of Nageg and Geigi, p. 18.
54 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
22. MOKEIS, THE GREEDY MAN.
[Compiled from two versions given to Mr Bay by Pasi (27), cf. Vol. in., p. 242.]
Several men wished to go fishing in their canoes, but they did not want Mokeis,
who was a very greedy man, to go with them. They told him he was like a large
fish-scoop, weres, from the quantity he devoured, and it was because he wanted so much
food to eat that they did not wish to take him in their canoes. He went to one man
named Bi and said to him, "You take me." Bi said to him, "You just stop here, we
know what you are like." He then went and said to Serar, " We go ? " Serar said to
him, "You just stop here, we know your sort." Then he asked Gobi, "Shall we go?"
Gobi said to him, "You just stop here." Next he asked Pilauar, "Do we go?" Pilauar
said to him, "You just stop here, we know what you are."
So Mokeis was left standing alone on the beach as the canoes sailed away to
Koaipet in the deep water, and he was vexed at what had been said to him. He said,
"We will smash up Bi's canoe and eat the men and finish them; we will smash up Serar 's
canoe and eat the men and finish them ; we will smash up Gobi's canoe and eat the
men and finish them ; we will smash up Pilauar's canoe and eat the men and finish
them." 'This was talk of Mokeis.'
Mokeis turned himself into a whale and went out into deep water. He swam to
where the canoes were ; one was drifting quietly on the water, resting upon its two
outriggers, he broke the floats of the outriggers and the canoe turned over and that
whale ate the men and finished them ; and one after the other he broke each canoe
and ate the men and finished them. ' Enough, thus ends the story of Mokeis.'
Comic Tale.
23. MARKEP AND SARKEP.
Two middle-aged bachelors named Markep and Sarkep lived at Waperered on Kebi
Dauar.
One day, as they looked out from their house on the hill, they saw a number of
young girls (Ti neur) in the sea and on the shore at Teg, playing at a game called
koko1.
They said to each other, "There are some fine girls playing there, it would be very
nice if we could get some for wives," and they agreed that one of the brothers should
attempt to get some of the girls and bring them to the house.
Markep said he would dress himself up as an old widow and would bring some
of them back with him. So he went to pluck some banana leaves, and he shredded
1 This game, which is more fully described in Vol. iv., is played by girls, who decorate their heads with
flowers and walk in the sea in a line and sing. Next they sit in a ring or semi-circle on the sand-beach and
ring; ;it the same time they push their hands in the sand and examine them to see whether the bit of charcoal
held by each one has made one or two streaks on their palms. Should there be two marks they cry out,
"Ah! Keg (charcoal) has killed a man!" It appears to be essentially a divining game.
FOLK-TALES. 55
them to form a petticoat, and he put on arrnlets and anklets, such as are worn only
by widows, and he rubbed his body and hair with ashes, and made himself up to look
like an old widow. He also wrapped his penis with leaves, and passing it between his
legs, tied it securely behind.
It was arranged that Sarkep should go to Dabai, on the other side of the island,
in order to spear saw-fish (bologor, Pristis), and that he should cook the fish against
Markep's return with the girls.
Markep started off to Teg with a walking-stick in his hand, and when he came
where the girls could see him, he walked very slowly, and pretended to be very old
and frail.
The girls looked up and saw him coming, and said to each other, " Oh ! here is
an old widow coming," and they ceased their play on the sand.
When Markep came up to them, he saluted them as "My grandchildren," and
asked if some of them would come and help him home to his place, as he was very old
and very tired. The girls talked among themselves. One said, "What did she say?
You go." Another said, "No, I can't go." A third said, "Let's go together." The
girls then asked how many he would like to come to help, and he said he would like
four. They said, "All right," and they started off with him.
When they had gone some way, they said, "Very good, you go yourself now." But
Markep pleaded with them to come right on, as his place was now quite close, and he
was so tired ; so the girls went on with him to his house.
When he got home, Sarkep was there, and had prepared the saw-fish.
Markep told Sarkep to catch two of the girls for his wives and he seized the other
two for himself.
Two days after, Sarkep said he would like to get some more girls, and that this
time he would go and get them, while Markep speared the saw-fish.
Markep then advised Sarkep what he was to do, and how he was to be sure to
dress himself properly, like a widow, and to arrange his petticoat correctly, and to tie
up his penis firmly, as if it were to get loose, he would frighten the girls away. Sarkep
said, "All right, I will look out."
Sarkep then warned Markep how he was to set about the spearing of the saw-fish :
he was to be sure not to spear any in the centre of the shoal, but only to spear the
one nearest him, else when he dived to catch the one in the middle, the others would
cut him up with their saws and kill him : but if he took the one nearest him, it would
be all right. Markep said, "All right, I will look out good." So they both started off.
When Sarkep came near to the girls at play, they saw him and said, "Here's an
old widow coming." When he came up to them he saluted them as " My good grand-
children," and asked them for help, as Markep had done.
The girls asked him how many he would like to come with him, and he said "Eight."
They said, "All right," and started off with him.
When they had got well on the way, the girls told him, "Very good, we go back
now, and you go on " : but he entreated them to come on with him, and whilst he was
pleading, his penis got too strong for the fastening and broke loose, and carried the
petticoat fastening away too. The girls were very frightened at what they saw, and
56 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
run ;uvay from Sarkep, crying out, " Ah ! that is not an old woman, it is a man." And
they ran back to their companions and told them what had happened, and that it was
a man who was taking them away.
When Sarkep found he could not catch the girls he was very sorry, and went on
to his house, where he met Markep, whose body, legs and arms were severely cut by
the saw-fish.
Sarkep told him what had happened to his petticoat, and that he had not paid
proper attention to Markep's instructions.
Markep told Sarkep that he on his part had forgotten what Sarkep had told him
about spearing the saw-fish, and that instead of spearing the one nearest him, he had
speared the one in the middle, and when diving for it, the others had cut him up1.
And so, by not paying enough attention to the advice of his brother, one lost the
girls, and the other got cut up by the saw-fish.
Markep and Sarkep are to be seen on Dauar in the form of two stones, which
are supposed to be in a sitting posture on the land they formerly occupied ; the former
(pi. V. fig. 4) is on Billy's (Teg, 23) ground at Waperered ; it is not zogo.
On a small heap of rounded boulders at Damid, by Ormei, in Dauar, are a few
shells and a stone female figure which has lost its head (pi. V. fig. 3). This image has
three deep cuts on each shoulder and three or four short ones between the breasts,
and the navel is in the centre of a large four-rayed cross ; these evidently represent
scarifications. It represents Ziai neur, one of the Ti neur girls that Markep took to
his home. Mr J. Bruce had an idea that she had something to do with the setting
sun, as she faces south of west (ziai = south-west), but the general opinion is she did
nothing, and was only lu babat, though Billy thinks she had something to do with
making and controlling wind from the west, from which quarter the wind blows only
at the latter end of the year, during the north-west monsoon.
1 This incident differs from that given in Vol. in. p. 246, but I think this is the correct version.
ABSTRACTS OF THE FOLK-TALES.
Nature Myths.
(Origin of Heavenly Bodies.)
1. TAGAI AND HIS CREW (p. 3). Tagai and his crew went fishing; when going
over a reef Kareg, the mate, poled the canoe from the stern, and Tagai speared fish
from the bow, the crew, Usiam and Seg, stole the captain's water, he was angry and
killed the crew, who form the constellations Pleiades and Orion, while Tagai, Kareg and
the canoe form another, consisting of Corvus, Crux, Centaurus, Lupus, Scorpio and
others.
2. ILWEL, THE EVENING STAR (p. 4). Ilwel, the evening star, is the wife of the
moon, they cohabit once a month, then quarrel and . separate till the quarrel is
patched up.
(Hills.)
3. PEPKER, THE HILL-MAKER (p. 5). Pepker and Ziaino had a race in hill-making.
Ziaino made the small hill Kebi Dauar, and Pepker made the high Au Dauar.
(Water-holes.)
4. THE KILLING OF IRUAM (p. 5). Three single women, Deiau, Ter-pipi and
Ter-seberseber, lived at Mei, the moon continually tried to steal the food they cooked on
the plateau. The women went to get some water, Deiau left the others and went to
another water-hole where she was accosted by Iruam, who lived in the water, she ran
away followed by Iruam. The three women attacked Iruam at Las where he made two
water-holes, Warber and Goi, on the shore, and a lagoon, Keper, on the reef, then he
took shelter in several shells and eventually turned into a stone.
5. THE Ti BIRDS (p. 8). A number of maidens, of youthful appearance though
very old, lived near a water-hole and had the power of turning into it-birds. A very
large solitary woman, Dopeb, stole their food (ager, an aroid, cooked in an earth-oven).
Eventually the girls killed Dopeb and swore at her and rolled her into the sea, the
body was continually cast up on the beach but eventually reached Dopeb's village of
Korog. The girls tried several times to find a new quiet spot where to reside, the
existing gullies and watercourses on the hill-side testify to their vain efforts, so they
returned to their old home at Lakop and all turned into mosquitos except one who
retained the bird-form and guarded the water-hole ; this became the place of the
mosquito zogo.
H. Vol. VI. 8
58 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STEAITS.
(Rocks, Trees and Animals.)
6. STONES THAT ONCE WERE MEN (p. 11). Three men made a canoe in the
bush and launched it at Las ; each of them remained as a stone on certain reefs and
another man took the canoe to the Great Barrier Reef and being capsized was turned
into a stone.
7. KOL (p. 11). Kol and a number of men came from Zaub to Er; all are now
stones.
8. KULTUT OF THE LONG ARM (p. 11). Kultut had a very long arm, and when
some girls went fishing, he stole an ager out of their earth-oven. Next day a girl
was set to watch, and the same thing happened again. The following day five girls
remained hidden in the bush, and when Kultut came to steal the food, they cut off his
arm at the elbow. A rude outline of a man on the beach represents Kultut, and the
earth-oven and ager consist of a shallow depression containing a stone.
9. KIAR, WHO CUT HIS FOOT (p. 13). Kiar accidentally trod on a heap of shell-
fish which he had collected on the reef at Dauar, and cut his foot very badly, he was
carried to the shore and the blood spurted on the face of the clirf' and made the red
patches (of haematite) that are still there in the rock.
10. MEIDU (p. 13). Meidu, an old maid, was tidying up her place when she
called out to four girls to come to her as she thought they were in the bush with four
young men and threatened that they would be sick if they did not obey her. They
refused, she bathed in the sea and washed her petticoat to kill the fleas ; then she
slept on the shore. The tide came up and washed her away in her sleep. When she
awoke, she sang a lamentation and eventually stranded on Mibu, where she turned into
the nut-bearing meidu tree, the nipa palm. The girls became three garden-lots with
very red earth ; two of the men who were with them were turned into fish and the other
two into lizards. A stone on Dauar represents Meidu.
11. NAGEG AND GEIGI (p. 15). Nageg lived all by herself in Waier, her son, Geigi,
was born after three evacuations ; when very young Geigi shot various -edible fish, later
he speared fish. When spearing gar-fish, he saw at Teg on Dauar, Iriam Moris, an old
man with a big belly, and he determined to fool him, so he turned into a king-fish and
chased a shoal of small fish which Iriam Moris tried to catch ; eventually Geigi was
caught. Iriam Moris asked an old woman and her sons to bring firewood and utensils to
cook the fish. One small boy poked the king-fish in the eye and when scolded by the
man asked his mother to go home with him. Iriam Moris cut up the king-fish and cooked
it and the other fish and ate it all up together with the fishing appliances and the firewood
and ashes.
Nageg followed after Geigi, Iriam Moris sent her on to some boys, they said Geigi
was not there, she returned to Teg and found some of Geigi's hair and blood-stains, she
divined by a louse and found out what had happened, she killed Iriam Moris and
extracted out of him the remains of Geigi, these she placed in order and placed a nest
of green tree-ants on them and jumped over the bones, the ants entered the bones and
ABSTRACTS OF FOLK-TALES. 59
Geigi sprang up alive. On their way home Nageg scolded Geigi and told him he was to
live in deep water as a king-fish and he said she was to live in holes in the reef as
a trigger-fish. Iriam Moris is represented by a smooth stone on Dauar and there are
stone relics of Nageg and Geigi on Waier.
Culture Myths.
12. POP AND KOD (p. 19). Pop and Kod regarded by some as the first settlers
of Mer, came from Fly River, and went from Zaub to Er ; they lived in a tree, where
they made a song, but had connection on the ground, hence the first secret.
13. SIDA. (p. 19). Sida came in a canoe from Daudai to the Murray Islands. At
Dauar he planted a screw-pine ; wherever he went on Mer, he planted bananas or screw-
pines after having had connection with different women, most of whom are represented
by worked stones. At one spot he defecated many shells, which accounts for their
abundance on the adjacent reef. He went to see the beautiful Pekari before whom the
young men of the island were dancing, Pekari and Sida slept together and coco-nuts
first appeared as the result of seminal emission. Sida met Abob and Kos and sent them
on a fool's errand to catch fish while he made unavailing overtures to their mother, then
he stabbed her in the neck and put her in his basket ; Abob and Kos followed Sida who
flew in the air with the aid of some feathers of the frigate bird and they attacked him.
Sida threw the mother into the sea and there resulted a reef rich in fish. Sida planted
cone shells on certain sand-banks where they are still abundant and finally flew back to
New Guinea.
14. GKLAM (p. 23). Gelam was a youth who lived with his mother in Moa. Seeing
a large number of Torres Straits pigeons in a tree he built a leafy shelter from which to
shoot them ; he continually gave the lean pigeons to his mother, keeping the fat ones
for himself. One day his mother disguised herself as a spirit and frightened Gelam
when he was in the tree, she ran home, Gelam followed and got much cut and bruised
in his hurry ; this happened for three days and then Gelam saw some white mud in his
mother's ears and guessed what had happened. He decorated the skull of his father
and prayed to it, and asked to be shown a hard wood like canoe timber. In his sleep
he dreamt he heard his father give him instructions as to what to do, and a ti bird
would sit on the tree. He did not follow out the instructions and made three unsuccessful
attempts to select the proper tree for his purpose ; filially the right tree was indicated
by a ti bird and Gelam tried to cut it down but could not, so he besought the S.E. wind
to help him, that called to the N.W., which called to the S.W. wind and this blew down
the tree. Gelam carved a dugong out of it and called it atwer, which was his mother's
name, and filled it with a lot of food. Next day he fooled his mother who tried to spear
the dugong and he swam away and arrived at Mer : first the dugong faced north-east
then it turned round and remained as the long hill, Gelam, of Murray Island.
15. ABOB AND Kos (p. 25). Two brothers, Abob and Kos, (Kudar was their mother,
but they had no father), caught fish, and Abob who was annoyed at the laziness of Kos
8—2
60 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
left him and went across to Dauar. Kos followed, but having no canoe tied grass on his
arms and flew out to sea and settled on Abob's canoe. At Dauar they erected stone
fish-weirs and made clefts in the rocks where they could catch fish.
The Warip people of Waier caught plenty of fish by wading in a circle and spearing
the frightened fish, but Gawer, a solitary woman on Dauar, was given only bones and
offal ; Abob and Kos wanted to kill her, but she persuaded them to avenge her. They
turned into gar-fish and swam across to Waier where they killed all the Warip and beat
the hill of Waier so that it was deeply fissured.
Abob and Kos returned to Murray Island and made fish-weirs. After Sida had
killed their mother, they went to Erub and erected fish-weirs and made clefts in the
rocks for catching fish, they also modified the language of the people. Thence they went
to Uga, Damut, Tutu and Parem, in each island they changed their names and taught
the people their language, finally they stopped at Kiwai.
16. How KAROM THE LIZARD STOLE FIRE FROM SERKAR (p. 29). Serkar, an old
woman of Nagir, had an extra digit between the thumb and forefinger of each hand as
all people had then ; that on the right hand she employed for kindling wood. Various
animals on Moa (snake, lizards and frog) wanted the fire, but only the monitor lizard
could swim across. Serkar made him welcome and made a fire and cooked food for him,
after feeding she quenched all the fire. At parting Serkar offered her left hand which
the lizard refused, when she gave him her right hand he bit off the forefinger and
swam with it to Moa. Later he brought the fire to Mer. Each man selected his tree
for fire-sticks, these men still use ; in one version certain trees came to see the fire
and took some of it away with them, and it is from their wood men since obtained fire ;
and in this version the islanders (who lived near New Guinea) were men, who changed
themselves into various animals.
17. AUKEM AND TERER (p. 31). Terer lived with his mother Aukem, he had no
father, one day he was beating a drum while some zogo men near by were preparing
a yam zogo, the drum-beating annoyed the men and was disrespectful to the zogo, so
they sent for Terer, ostensibly to have his hair dressed, when they had prepared his hair,
they half killed him and having removed his outer skin, sent him home. Aukem was
very angry1 and told him to go to Boigu, thinking him to be a ghost. He put on
a mask, took a bunch of seed-rattles, and danced through the island ; at Werbadu he
joined some men, who played at throwing some small arrows ; eventually he passed over
to Dauar. Aukem followed Terer, after she had gone into mourning for him, and she
carried in each hand a large human bone. Their canoes met midway to Dauar, again
she scolded him and told him to go to Boigu, as he was dead. Terer danced in .the
canoe and dived into the sea and his mother followed him. They landed on Dauar
1 In another version the story runs on as follows : this made Terer much ashamed, he began to dance and
went to Erpat. Aukem went home to put on mourning costume. Terer went on to Werbadu, and eventually
to Dauar. Later Aukem followed, and on the same day Terer thought he would like to return to Mer, the two
canoes met at Keud reef. Terer dived into the sea, followed by Aukem, and both swam to Dauar. Terer told
the Dauar men to beat the drum, sing the funeral song, and prepare food. Terer swam away from Dauar, and
after great hesitation his mother followed him.
ABSTRACTS OF FOLK-TALKS. f > 1
and went to the north-west point. Terer danced in front, Aukem followed with the
bones, the men beat drums and all the people wondered. Both dived into the sea and
swam to Mabuiag and Boigu and never returned.
Religious Myths.
18. THE MALU SAGA. (Ttie Coming of Bomai.) (Version A., p. 33.) Bomai came
from Tuger in New Guinea, and swam to Boigu as a whale, the people caught him and
wanted to make a zogo of him : when they went to get their drums, he broke away.
Then he turned into a canoe and turtle and came to Dauan and the former episode was
practically repeated. Then he changed into a turtle, a canoe and dugong, and arrived
at Mabuiag. Next he became a canoe and a porpoise and went to Badu. He escaped
from the Badu people and turned into a canoe and arrived at Moa. As a canoe he came
to Nagir, but previously changed himself into a crayfish. Again he escaped as a canoe.
Sigar and Kulka were in the canoe (born from it), on arriving at Yam they anointed
themselves and sat on mats ; Sigar remained behind. The other two went to Masig,
where Kulka remained. Bomai went towards the Murray Islands as a canoe, but it
broke up and he turned into a whale, but landed as a man at Giar pit on Dauar, the men
tried to keep him but he went away. As a canoe he sailed to the Great Barrier Reef
and returned to Ormei in Dauar, he escaped as a canoe and landed at Ne in Waier,
again he went to the Great Barrier Reef and finally sailed to Mer.
(Version B., p. 37.) Four brothers, Bomai (Main or Malo), Seo (Seii, Seiu or Seau),
Sigar and Kulka (Kolka) left their native island Muralug, each in his own canoe, and
went to Tutu. Bomai misbehaved himself there. They left, anchored on a reef, arid
a storm drove Sigar to Yam ; the others went to Aurid, where Kulka remained. Bomai
and Seo went to Masig, where Seo expostulated with Bomai on his conduct and was
killed by him (' Bomai, he wild, he steal women all the time, he good zogo '). Bomai set
sail for Mer, but was wrecked and swam to Begegiz on Mer, the Dauereb le tried to
secure him but he escaped to Giar pit on Dauar, thence he escaped to Ormei, and again
to Waier and next to Ne and finally he went to Mer.
(Continuation compiled from all accounts.)
A man named Dog and his wife Kabur lived at Aud behind Terker on Mer. Kabur
was fishing on the reef at Terker when Bomai came as a canoe, then changed into
drift-wood, next into a whale, a dugong and finally into an octopus (some informants
give other metamorphoses) in which form he approached Kabur and embraced her,
Kabur caught him and took him home and told her husband she had a zogo. They
watched all that night and saw the octopus crawl out of the basket and transform into
a man, who rubbed two shells together and walked round the island through Las to
Gigo, and returned to Terker. Next morning Dog painted and accoutred himself and
carried five sticks, and Kabur also decorated herself. Dog followed the footprint* of
Bomai. The Murray Islanders noticed Dog's behaviour and suspecting something
remarkable had happened, sent Dam and Samekep, Kabur's younger brothers, to
62 AMHIioroLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
investigate. They spent the night at Aud and they discovered the zogo. Next morning
when Dug walked round the island, the brothers stole Bomai, they quarrelled, but SamekSp
kept the zogo and Dam took a drum. Dog suspected something had gone amiss as his
budv did not perspire as usual; when he reached home, Kabur assured him everything
was all right, but they found the zogo had been stolen, Dog took his bow and arrows
and a stick with sharks' teeth attached to it and went to Las. Dam and Samek5p
admitted having stolen the zogo, eventually they made friends and the Las men were
permitted to keep the zogo.
The Coining of Barat (p. 40). The Dog-men, Pigeoii-men, Geregere bird-men,
Shark-men, Wazwaz shark-men, and Zagareb all came from Tuger, each clan in its own
canoe, to look for Bomai. They went to Boigu and followed all the wanderings of
Bomai, at last they arrived at Deiau in Mer, thence they were directed to Dauar and
Waier and finally again to Mer, thence they went to Moa to fetch Barat. Barat hum-
bugged the people and tied a rope round the tail of a kamosar fish ; then he made
puriim.fi and made a sucker-fish, and wooden models of dugong, turtle and crayfish. He
put an eagle's feather behind his ear and spoke to the people. He gave everyone
a sucker-fish. He threw out the model crayfish and the people caught many crayfish.
Then he made turtles abundant and Barat taught them how to catch them with the
sucker-fish. Lastly he made dugong abundant and he taught the men how to plug
its nose so as to suffocate it. The men told Barat they wanted him to go to Mer,
he agreed and went in a separate canoe, which was the first to arrive at Mer, and he
stopped at Er.
The Coming of Main, or The Introduction of the Malu Dances (p. 42). Main came
in the canoe with the Sigarum le and when they and the Nagirum le arrived at Giar
on Dauar they were directed to Las. They went to Werbadu and sung some Bomai wed.
Next they went to Er and saw Barat and sang some more songs— (one version refers
to Surkar or Sarkar at Er, who appears to be the same as Barat). Finally they went
to Dam. The Las and Dam men entertained them for such a long time that the hosts
grumbled at not receiving a dance in exchange. Then the Omai le gave a dog-dance,
the Daumer le a pigeon-dance, the Geregere le a bird-dance, the Zagareb le danced and
sung while two of them beat the sacred Malu drums. The Beizam boai and Wazwaz le
danced. The Tamileb and the Zogo le came dressed in the way that was subsequently
copied and perpetuated ; and the Nagirum le and Sigarum le gave the dance to the Las
men. Malu, a man with a shark's head, stopped in a canoe, here he was speared and
thrown overboard. A Las man brought him to the shore and made a shrine for him.
The Miriam le gave the Nagirum le and Sigarum le A great present of food. All
went back.
19. THE NAM ZOGO (p. 46). Two brothers, Wakai and Kuskus, got together
a volunteer crew to go turtle-fishing at Kerget sand-bank ; one of the crew, Maiwer,
reviled the turtle zogo of Kerget for their lack of luck, the zogo made the turtle plentiful,
but none of the men could catch any; finally Maiwer tried, but the turtle drowned him,
scraped off" his skin and left him on Garboi sand-bank. A great storm arose and the
canoes drifted to Garboi, where the men suffered from thirst. Maiwer's bones were found
ABSTRACTS OF FOLK-TALES. 63
by his friend and he prayed to them, and Maiwer appeared to his friend in the form of
a kriskris bird and told him where to find water, but he was not to go in the afternoon
as then the Natn zogo made the water red ; after drinking the friend decorated himself
and danced, then he showed the water to the others; they all made wooden images and
put their own names on them, they collected turtle and after they had secured the two
agiid of the Nam zogo they returned to Mer.
An old woman, Irado, of Mer tried to dig up a ketai yam, but the root was very
long, she followed it all down the island till she came to the coast and looking out to
sea she saw the canoes returning, she called out to the women to stop their mourning.
On landing the crews erected long stones on the beach and they went into the bush
and hung the zogo on a tree, two coco-nuts were given to the Erub men who were
present and wanted a zogo, the coco-nuts were agud and would help them to catch
turtle, they were also instructed in this art. The Meaurem and K6met men made a house
for the two tortoise-shell images of turtle that constituted the zogo and the Nam zogo
helped the men to catch turtle, but they could also make sick folk well and even kill
people.
Irado was a woman who came out of the ground, never married or had children, was
the discoverer of the ketai and turned into a stone.
Tales about People.
20. DISCOVERY OF THE USE OF COCO-NUTS AS FOOD (p. 52). Gedori, of Mergar
in Mer, first tested the. kernel of a coco-nut by giving some scrapings to ants and dogs,
then he experimented on himself, and told others the nuts were good to eat.
21. KAPERKAPEU, THE CANNIBAL (p. 53). A number of sisters were sent by Kiar
their mother to spear fish on the reef, they took off their petticoats and left them on
the beach. Towards sunset they had wandered far, so Seskip, the youngest girl, was
sent back for the petticoats ; in the meantime Kaperkaper invited the other girls into
her house where she cooked and ate them. Kiar followed her daughters to Kaperkaper's
house and a louse informed her what had happened, she killed Kaperkaper and restored
her daughters to life by placing some green tree-ants in their bones. Seskip came out
of hiding and all went home.
22. MOKEIS, THE GHEEDY MAN (p. 54). Mokeis was so greedy that the other
men would not take him in their canoes when they were going fishing : in revenge he
turned himself into a whale and upset all their canoes, and ate the men up.
Comic Tale.
23. MARKEP AND SARKEP (p. 54). Markep and Sarkep, two old bachelors, saw
girls playing and desired some for wives. Markep dressed himself up as an old widow
and persuaded four girls to return with him. Sarkep speared a saw-fish and cooked it.
They each seized two girls. Later they wanted some more girls,' so Sarkep pretended to
be a widow but as he did not fully obey Markep's advice he was unsuccessful and similarly
Markep forgot Sarkep's instructions and was severely cut by the saw-fish. They are
represented by two stones on Dauar.
II. GENEALOGIES.
BY W. H. R RIVERS.
THE genealogical record which I was able to collect in Murray Island is far less
complete than that of the islands of Mabuiag and Badu published in the fifth volume
of these Reports. This was partly because it was my first essay in this, or indeed
in any branch of sociology, and partly because the Murray Islanders were far more
reticent about this department of their lore, so that, at any rate in some cases, I know
that I was not given all the data of which my informants were in possession. Only
in three cases does the record go back to the great-grandfather of a man now living
and in no case to the great-great-grandfather as in several genealogies in Mabuiag.
My general method of collecting the genealogies was the same as in Mabuiag
except that the material had nearly always to be obtained from one witness at a time,
the Murray Islanders having a strong objection to their friends knowing that they were
acting as my informants in this matter. In Mabuiag I usually worked surrounded by
a crowd of people who quickly corrected any slip which might be made or supplied
deficiencies in the memory of my chief informant. In Murray Island, on the other
hand, it was necessary to take my assistant out of the hearing of any of his fellows, and
the approach of another islander would usually put an end to the Mow of information.
In this first attempt to collect the pedigrees of a people of low culture, I was
extremely incredulous as to the accuracy and faithfulness of the inforriiation which I
was receiving, and in consequence I collected the pedigree of nearly every family from
two or more witnesses quite independently of one another. It was found, however,
that there was a surprising agreement in the different accounts, and when there was
disagreement it was nearly always due to misunderstanding, owing to certain difficulties
to which I shall refer more fully shortly. Further, in several cases pedigrees were
collected independently by Mr Ray and were found to agree with those recorded by
myself, and since our departure from the island Mr Bruce has sent much information
involving genealogical facts, and in nearly every case his information has confirmed the
accuracy of the record obtained by myself.
The chief difficult}' and source of error in Murray Island was the very great
prevalence of the practice of adoption. In that island it is a common practice to
adopt the child of another, sometimes even before the child is born, and it is customary
GENEALOGIES. 65
in these cases to keep the child ignorant of his real parentage. Even after such an
adopted child reaches adult life he will always give the name of his adoptive father
when questioned as to his parentage, and I was told, and have no reason to doubt,
that in many of these cases the men were still ignorant of their real parentage. The
fact of the true descent is always, however, remembered by the elders of the families
concerned, even if it has been forgotten by the community at large, and, as we shall
see later, the real line of descent involves certain restrictions on marriage which render
it necessary that the record of it shall be preserved.
An adopted child usually belongs to the family and village of his foster-father,
and for the purposes of the study of the social organisation it would probably have
been best to record adoptive rather than real parentage. When, however, I began to
record the pedigrees in Murray Island, I was interested chiefly in the real relationship
of the people, as I hoped to discover whether those who were closely related resembled
one another in their reactions to the various psychological and physiological tests to
which we were subjecting the people. Having this object in view I was always careful
to impress on my informants that I wanted the real parents of a child and not the
names of those who had adopted him, and it seemed to me at the time that I had
in most cases succeeded in obtaining the names of the real parents, though in some
cases, especially far back in a pedigree, I knew that the village which I assigned to
a man was his by adoption aud not by real descent.
After our departure from the island I wrote to Mr Bruce to ask him for further
data to supplement or verify my own, and Mr Bruce replied that he found the diffi-
culty of ascertaining the real parentage so great that he despaired of obtaining a true
record. At the same time, however, he sent a record of two lawsuits (which are given
in the article " Social Organisation "), in each of which the crucial fact had been the
occurrence of adoption. In these cases the evidence given by both parties was in
agreement as to the fact of adoption, and I was therefore pleased to find that my
record of parentage was in exact agreement with this evidence. In two cases in
which my record was tested, it thus turned out to be accurate, and I believe that
on the whole, at any rate in recent generations, my record is one of real parentage.
It is unfortunate that in this, my first attempt to record the pedigrees of a
people, there should have been so complicating a factor. If I had the chance of
repeating the investigation, I should record both real and adoptive parentage in every
case of adoption. We shall see later that there are restrictions on marriage dependent
on both real descent and on that by adoption, and such a record would not only
enable us to tell whether these two kinds of restriction are observed in practice, but
would probably also explain certain infractions of marriage law which seem to have
occurred.
A difficulty of less importance in recording the pedigrees arose from the fact that
every Murray Islander has many names. Several apparent discrepancies of evidence
turned out to be due to the fact that different informants had used different names
for the same person.
H. Vol. VI. 9
G6 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
In the general arrangement of the genealogies, for which I am indebted for much
help to Miss A. Kingston, I have followed the same plan as in the genealogies of
the Western Tribe. The names of men are given in CAPITAL letters, those of
women in lower-case type, and the names of men are always to the left of those of
their wives. The names of those people who are now living, or rather were living at
the time of onr visit, are given in Clarendon type, of which TIBI and Godai in
Table 1 are examples. The abbreviations " d. y." and " d. unm." stand for " died young "
and "died unmarried," the latter applying to those cases in which the person in ques-
tion had reached a marriageable age at the time of death ; " no ch." stands for " no
children." When children are derived from a union which was not regarded by the
islanders as a marriage, the names of the father and mother are connected by a
single line instead of the double line customarily used to represent the fact of
marriage. Cases of polygyny are indicated by the use of square brackets surrounding
the names of the wives. The names in italics standing under the names of men or
women are those of the villages to which they belong, the basis of social organisation
in Murray Island being the village and not the totemic clan as among the Western
Islanders. In those cases in which natives of the Murray Islands have married people
from other islands or of other races, the names of these islands or races are in lower-
case type and enclosed in round brackets.
Owing to the fact that the social system of the Miriam is territorial, it has been
possible to arrange the genealogies in a definite order. The pedigrees of the people
of Mer are given first, and are arranged according to the order of the villages in
going round the island, and then follow the pedigrees of the people of Dauar and
Waier.
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12—2
III. KINSHIP.
BY W. H. R RIVERS.
THE system of kinship was studied in Murray Island by means of the genealogical
method, but owing to its being my first essay in this direction, the study was much
less complete than in my later work in Mabuiag. While staying in the latter island I
was, however, able to supplement my work in Murray Island with information given by a
native of Mer, Gi (12), who was staying in Mabuiag. Further, I have been able to use
some information on kinship collected while we were in Murray Island by Mr Ray, and
since we left Torres Straits Mr Bruce has sent an account of the relationships of the
Murray Islanders, which confirms the accuracy of my account and gives additional informa-
tion on several points. I can be confident that the account given in this article is correct
in its main features, but there are several points of detail about which there remains some
uncertainty. The system of kinship, like that among the Western Islanders, is of the
classificatory kind, and in its main features bears a close resemblance to the system of the
islands of Mabuiag and Badu described in the fifth volume of the Reports, though with
several interesting differences.
I give first a list of the kinship-terms in use with approximate translations and
then proceed to give more complete accounts of their meanings. In some cases there
are two or more forms of a kinship-term, of which one vocative form is . used in direct
address and the other when speaking of a relative.
Lu giz, great-grandfather or great-grandmother, their brothers and sisters, and older
ancestors.
Kaiad1 or pbpa, grandfather and grandmother.
Ab, aba1 or baba, father.
Apu, ama or amenta1, mother.
W8r$m, child, son.
Neaur1, daughter.
N&p, grandchild.
Ktmiar, husband.
KSsker, wife.
Le, brother (man speaking), sister (woman speaking).
Berb8t, sister (man speaking), brother (woman speaking).
Aua, mother's brother.
Nunei, sister's son.
Nggwam, child of mother's brother or of father's sister.
1 Mr Ray, Vocabulary, Vol. in. spells these respectively kaied, abe, amau or amatcti, nettr, ncubet.
KINSHIP. 9
Awim, aivima or naiwet, name for the relationship between a man and his wife's-
relatives.
NaubVt1, name for the relationship between a woman and her husband's relatives.
Akari, men who marry two sisters.
Neitawgt, women who marry two brothers.
Ln giz. This term, which means the founders of things or the foundation of things',
is used for all ancestors and collateral relatives of generations earlier than that of the
grandparents.
Kaiad, pbp or pbpa. These are terms for grandparents and for their brothers and
sisters and for members generally of the clans of the father and mother of the same
generation as the grandparents. Pbp or pbpa is the term used in direct address, while
kaiad would only be used if a man was speaking of his grandparent. The same terms
are thus used for members of both sexes, but sometimes the grandfather or other male
may be distinguished as kimiar pbp, and the grandmother as kosker pbp.
If the grandfather and grandmother are the eldest of their families they are called
ait pop, while if younger members they are called kebi pop, and the same names are
given to brothers and sisters of the true grandparents according to their seniority in
their families. Sometimes the true grandfather is distinguished as pbp kar.
Ab or aba, vocative form baba. These are primarily terms for father but, as is-
customary in the classificatory system, they have very much wider applications. They
are applied to the true or the adoptive father, to his brothers, to all men of the father's
clan and of his generation, to the husband of the mother's sister, probably also to the
husband of the father's sister, and to anyone whom the father calls le.
Men standing in the relationship of aba are distinguished as au ab and kebi ab
according to their seniority in their families. If a man's father were a younger son,
the man would call his father kebi ab or little father and would give the name of au ab
or great father to his uncle. When we pass beyond the family in the limited sense I
am in some doubt how the distinction is made, and do not know certainly whether the
name of au ab is given to those men whom the father would call le who are older than
himself, or whether, as among the Western Islanders, he would give this name to the
eldest son of each family of the clan. I think it is probable that the latter is the case.
Apu, vocative ama and amaua. These are primarily used for mother and are also
applied to the sisters not only of the mother, but also of the father. The terms are
also applied to the wife of anyone who would be called aba. According to Mr Bruce
the name of amaua is sometimes given to the sisters of a grandparent who should
properly be called pbpa. The unusual feature in the use of these terms is that the
same kinship designation should be given to the sister of the father as to the sister of
the mother, and I suspect that amaua is properly a term for the father's sister while
apu is properly the term for mother and mother's sister, but that the two terms have
now come to be used indiscriminately.
Werem. This is the term for child and is used for both boys and girls. There is-
no distinctive term for son, but if necessary a son would be distinguished as kimiar
1 See note, p. 92.
- Lu giz is also the name for the swollen base of a tree trunk, such as that of the coco-nut palm.
94 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
werem. A daughter would be neaur werem, but the word neaur is often used alone, so
that it would appear that there is a more distinctive term for daughter than for son,
but it is probable that the term werem is always understood to mean son, unless the
context makes it obvious that a daughter is meant. The terms werem and neaur are
used with as wide a connotation as the reciprocal aba and apu. Anyone who calls a
man aba is called by him werem or neaur.
Nap. This is the term for grandchild and is a reciprocal term to pbpa.
Kimiar. This, which is the word for man, is also the term for husband.
Kosker. This term means both woman and wife. It is also applied by a man to
the wife of his brother, not only in the strict sense, but also to those who are called le
according to any of the rules to be described in the next section.
Le. This is the kinship term given to one another by two brothers and also the
term used by two sisters when referring to one another. Thus it is a term used by
men for one another and by women for one another, but it is never applied by a man
to a woman or vice versa.
The term is used with an extraordinarily wide meaning. It is applied by a man to
his own brother, to the sons of his father's brothers, and to any other man of his clan
and of his own generation. Thus a man belonging to the village of Ulag would call all
Ulag men of his own generation le.
Further, it would seem that the term is now used in a very wide sense for anyone
with whom relationship of almost any kind can be traced on the father's side. Thus, I
was told that Gi of Ulag (12) would call Debe Wali (26) le, because Debe Wali's grand-
father, Aiwa, had married an Ulag woman. If no relationship could be traced, some
other reason might be given as the motive for the use of this term, thus Gi told me that
he had been the le of Giza (7), because Gi's father had given Giza his name. Still another
motive for the le relationship is derived from the custom of forming a bond of brother-
hood or friendship with another man, the friends being called the tebud of one another.
This tebud relationship descends from one generation to another and tebud addressed one
another as le.
In fact the connotation of the term le has become so wide that it would seem to
be applied by a man to nearly everyone -on the island with whom he has .no other bond
of relationship, and it is often now also used loosely for a relative who should properly
be called negwam. Behind this loose use of the term, however, the people have a
clear idea of the le relationship in the strict sense, i.e. by blood kinship, and when
especially asked, a man would always tell me who were his le proper as distinguished
from his le in a wider sense.
An elder brother is called narbet and a younger keimer (see p. 96).
When this term is used by women of other women, it is probably applied almost,
if not quite as widely, but my information on this point is much less complete, and I
only have definite records of the term being used by a woman for her own sister and
for a daughter of her father's brother and for other women of the same village and of
the same generation as herself.
Berbet. This may best be described as a term for the brother-sister relationship, in
distinction from le, which is a term for the brother-brother, or for the sister-sister
KINSHIP. 95
relationship. It is applied by a man to his sister, to the daughters of his father's
brothers and to all women of his village of the same generation as himself. Similarly
the term is applied by a woman to her brothers, to the sons of her father's brothers, and
to all the men of her village of her own generation. I do not know whether it is used
in the same wide senses as the term le, and I regret very much the deficiency of my
record in this respect, for it is probable that, in whatever sense it were used, it would
carry with it restrictions on marriage. As in the case of the relationship of le, there is
a tendency to confuse the terms berbet and negwam, and I was sometimes told by a man
that a woman was his negwam berbet.
Aua. This, which is primarily a term for mother's brother, is given to all men of
the mother's village of the same generation as the mother. According to Mr Bruce it
is sometimes applied to the brothers of the mother's father who should properly be
called pbpa.
Nunei. This term is often used in the same sense as aua, but it seemed to be
more commonly used, as the reciprocal of aua, for the sister's children, or more generally
for the child of a berbet. It would thus seem that nunei is a reciprocal term of relation-
ship applied to one another by mother's brother and sister's son, while aua is only used
by the nephew to or of his uncle.
Negwam. This is a term which is now widely used for relatives on the mother's
side, but it is also given to the child of the father's sister. Probably it is primarily a,
term applied to one another by the children of brother and sister, or to use the Miriam
term by the children of berbet. At the present time it is certainly used also for the
children of the mother's sister and for other relatives on the mother's side. As with
the other kinship terms its use was extended to all the members of a village. Thus it
was applied not only to all the children of the brothers and sisters of the mother, but
to all those of the same village and generation as these.
It might also be used for relatives of the mother's mother, thus Barsa (20) was the
negwam of Gi (12) because Barsa's mother's mother, Zagale, was the sister of Gi's
grandfather, and there was some reason to believe that the mere fact of her having
been an Ulag woman would have been sufficient to set up the negwam relationship
between the two men, even if no definite kinship tie had been traceable in the
genealogies.
Naiwet, awim, vocative form awima. These are reciprocal terms applied to each
other by a man and the relatives of his wife ; thus a man will give this name to the
father, mother, brothers and sisters of his wife and all these will call the man in
return by this name. The term is used not only for the own father, mother, etc. of
the wife, but also to the relatives of this kind in the usual sense of the classificatory
system.
A collective term for the awim of a man is kem.
Naubet. This is the term applied by a woman to the relatives of her husband, and
as it is a reciprocal term, it is also applied by these people to the wife of their relative.
Thus the wife of the le of a man is the naubet of the man, but it is interesting that
the man also calls her fcosker, the term which he applies to his own wife. The wife of
a tebud le or friend with whom the bonds of artificial brotherhood have been formed is
96 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
also called naubet, and similarly the tebud of the wife address the husband as naiwet
•{but not as awirna), the wife's tebud being all those who have formed the relation of
brotherhood with her family.
Akari. This term expresses the relationship between the husbands of two sisters.
Two men who have married sisters are akari to one another. The term corresponds to
the yakai of Mabuiag.
Neitawet. This is the term given to one another by the wives of two brothers
and corresponds to the yatowat of Mabuiag.
Two terms are used for distant relatives in general, one, tokoiap or tukiap, for
distant relatives on the father's side, and the other apule, for distant relatives on the
mother's side, and in some cases even for near relatives, as for mother's sister's child.
I heard the former term once used as the equivalent of akari or wife's sister's husband,
but probably this was because the man was also a distant relative on the father's side.
There is little doubt that tukoiap is a term borrowed from the Western Islanders and
was at one time only used for friends (tebud) belonging to other islands.
We have already seen that elder and younger brothers are distinguished as narbet
and keimer, but when there are more than two in the family, there are more elaborate
means of distinguishing their order of seniority, for an account of which I am indebted
to Mr Bruce.
If there are three sons in a family, the eldest is called narbet keimer ; the second
is eip keimer, or middle brother ; and the third is mop kar keimer, or end true brother.
'The first addresses the second and third as keimer, and they address him as narbet.
If there are five sons, their names in order are narbet keimer, eip kar keimer, eip
keimer, eip mop keimer and mop kar keimer. Thus the second is called true middle
and the fourth end middle, and Mr Bruce satisfied himself that the terms were used in
this sense. The eldest addresses the others as keimer and is addressed by them as narbet.
In another sample family of three, a daughter followed by two sons, the daughter
is called narbet neaur berbet ; the elder boy is narbet keimer berbet and the younger is
mop kar keimer berbet. The daughter calls the sons berbet, and they call her narbet
berbet. The sons call one another narbet and keimer according to the usual rule.
In a family with four sons and one daughter, the latter in the middle, the terms
would be : narbet keimer, eip kar keimer, berbet, eip mop keimer and mop kar keimer.
The brothers address the sister as berbet, and she addresses the eldest as narbet berbet
and the others as keimer berbet ; the eldest brother addresses the others as keimer and
is addressed by them as narbet.
In a family of two sons followed by two daughters, the names in order are : narbet
keimer, eip keimer, eip neaur berbet and mop kar neaur berbet. The eldest addresses the
second as keimer and the two daughters as berbet, and is addressed by all three as
narbet. The younger daughter addresses the elder as narbet and is addressed by her
as keimer.
In a family of four sons and one daughter, the youngest, the names in order would
be : narbet keimer, eip keimer, eip mop keimer, mop kar keimer, and the daughter mop
kar neaur keimer.
If the last two families are those of brothers, the former of the elder and the latter
KINSHIP. 97
of the younger, the two eldest sons would address one another as le and would call
their younger cousins keimer or berbet according to their sex. The younger males of
each family would call both the eldest brothers narbet and would address each other as
le or as keimer. The daughters would address the eldest son of each family as narbet
berbet, and their younger male cousins as keimer. They will address each other as le or
keimer. The elder daughter of the family of the elder brother is called narbet by her
own sister and by the daughter of the younger brother, but it is not clear whether this
is because she is the daughter of an elder brother or because she occupies a higher
place in her own family.
The kinship system of Murray Island is a definite example of that called classi-
ficatory, but it lacks one of the ten features which Morgan regarded as indicative, viz.,
that feature according to which a special designation is given to the father's sister. In
the account I have given in Vol. v. of the Reports I suggested that the distinction
between father's sister and mother's sister was in process of disappearance among the
Western Islanders and it would seem that it has been completely lost among the Eastern
Islanders. It is of course possible that it has never existed and that the Murray Island
system represents an earlier stage of evolution than that of Mabuiag, but I think there
can be little doubt that the process in play here has been loss of a distinction which at
one time existed rather than the development of a previously non-existent distinction.
The facts that there are three terms (apu, ama and amaua) in Murray Island for the
mother, mother's sister and father's sister relationship, and that one of these, amaua,
suggests a relation akin to that of aua or maternal uncle, make it more than probable
that there was at one time a distinction between father's sister and mother's sister
which has disappeared.
In another respect the system of Murray Island is more complete than that of
Mabuiag; it has a special designation for the children of brother and sister which is
lacking in Mabuiag, though there was evidence that .it existed in Saibai, another of the
Western Islands. Though this feature is not included by Morgan among those which
he calls indicative, it is a very general feature of the classificatory system, and here
again, though no conclusive evidence can be adduced, it is much more probable that
this is a feature which the Mabuiag system has lost rather than one which has been
developed only in the Eastern Islands.
The fact that in the Murray Islands the term negwam is applied to the child of a
mother's brother and to the child of a father's sister makes it almost certain that it is
properly a distinctive term for the children of brother and sister, or more correctly for
the children of those who would call one another berbet. The term is now, however,
applied also to the children of the mother's sister, a departure from the usual practice
in connection with the classificatory system. According to some, however, the name for
a mother's sister is apule, or relative on the mother's side, and there is little doubt
that the use of negwam for this relationship is due to an extension of the term. Indeed,
it seemed that the term negwam is now often applied to almost any relative on the
mother's side and not only to those of the same generation as the speaker.
Another difference between the two systems is that in Mabuiag there are separate
terms for grandfather and grandmother, while in Murray Island one designation has to
H. Vol. VI. 13
98 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
serve for both. In another respect the Murray Island system is the more complete in
that it has two terms for the relationship of mother's brother and sister's son while in
Mabuiag there was only one term, wadwam, applied by uncle to nephew and by nephew
to uncle. It seems clear, however, that in Murray Island nunei is such a reciprocal term,
but that in addition another term, aua, is in use, limited in its application to the uncle.
A more important difference between the two systems is in the terms for relatives-
in-law; here the Mabuiag system is the more complete in having a term for parents-in-
law distinct from that for brothers- and sisters-in-law. The Mabuiag terms for the latter
relationships, imi and ngaubat, are evidently the same words as the awim and naubet
of Murray Island, but the exact connotation of the terms is very different in the two
cases. The Mabuiag terms are used in the same sense as tukoiab and babat, imi being
used for the relationship between brothers-in-law and for that between sisters-in-law
while ngaubat is used for the relationship between brother-in-law and sister-in-law; one
is a term of relationship between two persons of the same sex while the other expresses
that between two persons differing in sex. In Murray Island, on the other hand, the
distinction between the terms is quite different ; awim is a designation for the relation-
ship between a man and his wife's relatives, while naubet applies to the relationship between
a woman and her husband's relatives, so that both are applied by men to men, by
women to women, and also by men and women to one another.
The two kinship systems of Torres Straits show several features of great theoretical
interest. Both systems exhibit certain departures from the typical form of the classifi-
catory system. The Mabuiag system has lost the distinction between the children of
brothers and the children of sisters on the one hand and the children of brother and
sister on the other hand, and seems to be in process of losing the distinction between
the relationships of father's sister and mother's sister. This latter distinction has been
completely lost by the Miriam who have, however, preserved the distinction lost by the
Western Islanders. Both systems have changed in such a way that they tend to
approach the Malayan system of Morgan.
If the Murray Islanders followed the example of the Western Islanders, as they
seem to be doing, and failed to distinguish between negwam and le, and if the Western
Islanders followed the Murray Islanders 'in losing the distinction between father's sister
and mother's sister (as they also seem to be doing), there would only remain in the two
groups the existence of the relationship of mother's brother to separate their systems
from one in which there would be only two kinship terms for each generation, one for
each sex. If the feature of having a special term for mother's brother were also to go,
and there is even some indication of this in Mabuiag (see Vol. V., p. 135), we should have
a system closely approaching the Malayan system of Morgan1.
Morgan supposed the Malayan or Hawaiian system to be primitive and this system
gave him his sole evidence for the existence of the consanguine family. From our
present knowledge of the culture of the Polynesians it would seem extremely unlikely
that they should possess a family organisation of a primitive kind, and the nature of the
changes going on in the systems of Torres Straits seem to show that the Polynesian
1 Among the Miriam there is an even nearer approach to the Malayan system in the use of the same
•designation for both grandfather and grandmother.
KINSHIP. 99
system arose as the result of a breaking down of a more complicated classificatory
system, that it is in fact a late product of change of exactly the same kind as seems
to have produced the languages of Polynesia, which are simplifications of the more com-
plicated languages of the Melanesian family.
Another feature of interest in the Miriam system is that a man gives the same
name to the wives of his brothers as to his own wife, and this not only to the wives of
his own brothers but also to the wives of his le in a wide sense.
A further feature is the combination in both groups of kinship-ties dependent
on membership of a totemic clan or village, either that of the father or of the
mother, with kinship-ties dependent on consanguinity which can be traced in the
genealogies. Thus a man might be called aba because he was of the same clan or
village as the speaker, although no direct blood-tie could be traced, and on the other
hand other men of several clans or villages would be given the same name, entirely
owing to some relationship traceable in the genealogies. When used in the latter way,
it seemed that the kinship terms were often used very loosely, especially among the
Miriam, and were applied to many persons with whom the blood relationship was of a,
very distant kind. In fact they were used so widely that it was difficult to find an
islander to whom a man would not give one or other of the chief kinship terms. It
must be remembered, however, that my genealogical record for the Miriam is far from
being complete, and it is possible that with wider knowledge the looseness of application
of many of the kinship terms would be found to be apparent only.
Kinship taboos.
There is a definite taboo on the name of a relative by marriage, as among the
Western Islanders. All other persons are addressed by name, but if relatives by
marriage are addressed or spoken of except by the terms expressing the bond of
relationship, awim and naubet, it is regarded as an insult, and reparation has to be
made. The offender has to conciliate the aggrieved person or persons by a present
of food or goods, and until the penalty is paid no communication takes place between
the parties. The offence is regarded as one against the whole family and not merely
against the individual, and so no time is lost in making the reparation, and the
family of the offender assists in the provision of the necessary conciliatory offering.
The taboo applies not only to relatives by the ordinary bonds of kinship, but also
to those by the tebud relationship or artificial brotherhood.
The taboo applies equally to men and women, but if women offend, it is not
the custom to make conciliatory presents. The women are said to be great offenders,
especially when they quarrel with their mothers-in-law, but as Mr Bruce states, the men
consider that they would be doing nothing else but making presents if women incurred
the same penalties as men. The women are probably made to suffer in some other
way, and it may be that this offence is one of the provocations of the wife-beating
which is undoubtedly very common in Murray Island. One interesting point in con-
nection with this custom is the method of showing that an offence has been committed.
If a relative by marriage is spoken of by name, anyone present of the family of the
13—2
100 ANTHKOPO LOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
injured person will immediately hang down his head to show that he is ashamed
because his relative's name has been used, and every one at once recognizes what
has happened.
If it is necessary, in connection with some business transaction, or for any other
reason, to distinguish a relative-in-law in conversation the taboo may be avoided
by speaking of the relative as the wife or husband of so and so as in Mabuiag,
or some other man to whom the taboo does not apply may be asked to tell the
name.
A person who is subject to a taboo on the name of a relative is also debarred
from uttering the name of that relative if it should be the name of an object. Thus
if the relative in question were named after an animal, the person subject to the
taboo would have to find some other name for the animal. If a woman is named
Ni, water, the naubet of the women may not use the word ni in her presence, but
would use either kusu or goki. In asking for a drink of water, he would not say
as usual, "Ma ni karim tekau," but "Ma kusu karim tekau." The alternative words so
used are generally borrowed from the languages of other islands. The following examples
are given by Mr Bruce :
For sep, earth, would be used par, stone ; for gur, sea, malo ; for u, coco-nut, warab ;
for kaba, banana, katam', for pereper, lightning, panepane; for isi, centipede, au tereg
tereg ebur, big tooth animal ; and for koiet, rock codfish, would be used mammam lar,
or red fish.
The functions of kin.
When 1 was in Murray Island I did not inquire whether there were any special
functions connected with ties of kinship. It was only after discovering the remarkable
duties and privileges connected with kinship in Mabuiag that my interest in this
topic was aroused. My only means of making further investigation then was by the
aid of a Murray Islander, Gi, who was staying in Mabuiag, and I was told by him
that it is the duty of a le to preside at the funeral, and that if there is no le, the
duty would be undertaken by a negwam.
The power of stopping a fight was said to be possessed by a le, negwam, aba,
amaua, aua, pbpa and awim, i.e. by relatives of nearly every degree. The only exception
made was that of the naubet, which probably means little more than that the privilege
of stopping a fight is chiefly possessed by men.
Similarly the power of taking any of the possessions of a man, which in Mabuiag
was so predominantly the privilege of the maternal uncle, was said to be the privilege
of all relatives ; it appeared that anyone who was called le, negwam, aba, amaua,
aua, berbet, awim or naubet, might take any of a man's possessions and the man would
say nothing. As I found it very difficult to find the name of anyone in Murray
Island to whom Gi did not apply one of these terms, it would appear from his account
as if everyone has a theoretical right to the property of everyone else on this island.
When we were in Murray Island Mr Bruce had told us that he had seen men
taking the tops of other men who did nothing to prevent the loss of their property.
KINSHIP. 101
As it seemed that this was an example of the regulation described by Gi, I wrote
to Mr Bruce to ask if he could find out more about the custom. Mr Bruce found
that anyone, whether a relative or not, has the right to pick up a top, but that it
is customary to make a present in return. If the top is taken by a le or a negwam,
the present is usually smaller than when it is taken by one who is not related, and
there was some reason to suppose that an awim was not supposed to make a present
at all. When a man intends to take the top of another, he usually tells the owner
beforehand, at the same time hinting what he intends to give in return. In one
case the top of Pasi (27) was taken by Ulai (4 c) without any previous arrangement
and no compensation was given, Ulai claiming to be the awim of Pasi, although the
latter could hardly trace the relationship.
Mr Bruce collected a number of recent instances in which tops had been taken,
and it happens that in the majority of cases the man who took the top was the
awim of the original owner, but the islanders are very emphatic that anyone has
the right. Nevertheless there can be little doubt that this practice of taking the
property of another is the outcome of some such regulation as exists in Mabuiag
where only certain relatives have the right, and that the privilege has gradually
spread from one relation to another till it is now the privilege of all, and it is
strongly in support of this view that one relative, that of awim, or relative by
marriage, should still possess the right without having to give anything in return.
Probably we have here an example of a kinship-custom which has become generalised so
that it has entirely lost its original significance.
According to Mr Bruce, the only other object taken in the same way is the
toy-boat which it is a very favourite occupation in some years to sail within the reef.
The only other record we possess of special privileges connected with kinship is
in the Kaketut custom (see article on Courtship and Marriage, p. 112), in which a
man makes a present of food to his wife's relatives, and when the recipient goes to his
son-in-law's place to receive the present he is accompanied by his negwam, or failing
them, by his brothers or other fe.
IV. PERSONAL NAMES.
BY W. H. R. RIVERS.
EVERY inhabitant of the Murray Islands has several names, and it has already
been mentioned that this was often a source of embarrassment in compiling the
genealogies. There is a great reluctance to utter one of these names which is prob-
ably regarded by the man as his in a very special sense, and the names by which
we knew all the inhabitants were either nicknames or other names of minor
importance. It was only in a very few cases, if at all, that we learnt the especially
private name of a man.
There is one name which is handed on from father to eldest son in each family.
The name of this kind possessed by Pasi was Aet, and he had this name tatooed
on both arms. Similarly the name which Jimmy Rice (26) had inherited from his father
was Saviri or Sawiri. Sometimes the name inherited from the father was in more
general use, and we always knew Wasalgi (23) by his name of this kind though he
was also Ses, Ineau, Obeam, Ununi, and had still another name which he professed
to have forgotten.
According to Mr Bruce there are also special family names for girls, at any
rate in certain families. The eldest girls of the families of Gadodo (14) and of
Pasi (27) are named Warber, and the second-born Goi1, being named after certain
water-holes (see p. 7). Pasi probably has the right to use these names owing to his
real descent from Las, though his family has now belonged by adoption to Dauar
for several generations.
Mr Bruce tells us that one reason for the multiplicity of names is disagreement
at the time of name-giving ; several names are suggested by different people and all
are given to the child.
At the present time very many of the names in ordinary use are nicknames often
given by the South Sea men with whom the people work in the diving-boats. Names
of this kind date back to the first arrival of South Sea men in the Straits ; the
strangers could not or did not care to learn the Miriam words and gave names often
of a nautical origin, such as Boutship, Jibsheet, Capsize and Whaleboat, or of such
a kind as Grog or Groggy, Smoke and Wait-a-minute.
A large proportion of the younger people bear names of European origin, such
as Jimmy, Charley, William and Billy, the latter being evidently regarded as two quite
1 This occurs as a female name in Sebeg (4 E).
PERSONAL NAMES. 103
distinct names, unrelated to one another. Names of biblical origin occur, especially
among the middle-aged men, having probably been assumed when they were converted.
Several of these names have been modified ; thus, David has become Dawita, and
Enoch, Enoka; while John has been adopted in the form of Joani.
In many cases we have been in doubt whether names are proper Miriam names,
or of South Sea or European origin. Thus we are still quite uncertain whether the
name of the old Mamoose is Arei (Miriam) or Harry. In this case the latter seemed
more probable and it has been adopted, but as a rule wherever there seemed to be
a doubt the Miriam origin has been preferred and the name spelt phonetically. Thus
Meiti (4 D) should perhaps rather be Matey, but as it may quite well from its
character have been a Miriam name, it has been written phonetically. Another name
which was at first written Sekmeit turned out clearly to have been Second Mate,
and as there could be no doubt about the origin of this name it has been written
in English fashion. In other cases, however, the names have been written phonetically,
though there is little doubt that they are of external origin. Examples are Kilarup
(Keel her up), Bemop (Beam up), and Kapilag (Captain Lagge).
Sometimes a man would have an obvious nickname of Miriam origin, thus Debe
Wali means "good clothes," and had been applied to one of our two servants whose
proper name was Mere (26).
As in Mabuiag many of the proper Miriam names are taken from natural objects,
but this feature is perhaps not so obvious as in that island. I have been able to
find fewer positive examples, but it is possible that this is only the result of imperfect
knowledge. Examples of men's names are Kadal, crocodile ; Koiop, dragon-fly ; Malili
(malil, iron); Tapim, the sting-ray. Among women's names of this kind are Awe, a
variety of banana; Bud, mourning; Nam, the green turtle, and Us, a shell.
There is one reason why we might expect names taken from objects to be less
frequent among the Miriam. They carry the taboo on the names of relatives-in-law
farther than the inhabitants of Mabuiag in that they may not utter the names of
objects if they are also the names of these relatives. This taboo is a source not only
of inconvenience but also of expense (see p. 99), and it would not be unnatural if a pre-
judice has arisen against such names.
Several names taken from the folk-tales or from stars and constellations have
been given to both men and women, as Tagai, Geigi, Nageg and Iluel. Not so many
people are called after the names of places as in Mabuiag, the only examples I have
found being Warwe in the case of a man, and Kiwai, Moa, B5ged, Kabur and Baur
as women's names, and the last may have been taken from an object, the fish-spear,
rather than from the place. Here, however, as in Mabuiag, place names have been
more frequently given to women than to men, and this correspondence in the two
peoples suggests that women may have been often known at one time by the name
of the place from which they came, as the Kiwai woman or the Moa woman ; a fact
which, if established, would be of some theoretical interest.
There are several examples of personal names common to the Eastern and Western
Islanders. Examples are Imari, Wame, Sawi, Barigud and Newar. The last has been
recently given to several children, and may merely be an indication of the closer inter-
104 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
course with Mabuiag, which is now coming about, but the other instances are ancient.
In some cases the names of men in Mabuiag are the names of women among the
Miriam, of which examples are Mam and Aba. Again, in some cases men bear the
Western names of objects; thus there occur as men's names Baidam and Sapor, which
are the Western names for the shark and the flying fox.
We have no record of any special ceremonies connected with name-giving, but
that there was something of the kind is rendered probable by the fact that the act
of giving a name to a child set up a relationship between the giver and recipient, a
relationship which was carried on to the next generation (see p. 94).
Exchange of names is not a Miriam custom, but it is now coming into vogue
in imitation of the Western Islanders, and several of our party were asked to
exchange names by the younger men. I exchanged names with Aki (22), whom I met
again in Mabuiag after we had left Murray Island. I had forgotten the exchange
and addressed him as Aki, which gave him much pain, for, as he told me, I was Aki
and his name was Rivers.
The very definite taboo on the names of certain kin has been fully considered (see
p. 99). As among the Western Islanders there was no evidence of any taboo on
the names of the dead, and many people now bear the names of those who have
died, examples being Dako (21), Diwadi (11) and Hi (1). When a child died its
name might be given to the next child born, if of the same sex, as in the cases
of Kriba (16) and Gasi (4 D), but this practice seemed to be less frequent than in
Mabuiag.
V. BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD CUSTOMS,
AND LIMITATION OF CHILDREN.
BY A. C. HADDON.
IN the section on Midwifery in Volume I. the medical aspects of pregnancy and
parturition are dealt with, here their social and magical aspects are alone considered.
PREGNANCY CUSTOMS.
Frequently pregnant women eat at various times a greasy, chocolate-like earth iu
lumps about the size of two or three walnuts. Sometimes it is eaten raw, but the
proper way is to wrap the piece of earth in banana leaves and then roast it, the
object being to make the skin of the child light coloured. If a child is born of a
dark colour, the other women say the mother did not eat the earth ; should the child be of
a dirty colour, they say the mother was too lazy to roast the earth, they laugh at
her for eating it raw and gossip about it. I have been informed that women eat
female pigeons to get girls and male pigeons to get boys.
When a wife told her husband she was pregnant, he left her until after the
birth of the child.
FOOD TABOOS.
When a woman knows she is pregnant she is debarred from eating certain fish
and shell-fish, but she may eat all garden produce.
If the mother eats a sole-like, flat fish, called at, the babe will have bad eyes
and a misshapen nose. Should she eat a gib, a red fish that is caught at the edge of
the reef, the child's face and body will be wrinkled all over like that of an aged person1.
The eating of a garom, a grey fish with brown spots, makes the child cold in the
womb, kem giru ; as does also the eating of the ezer, baler-shell (Melo diadema).
If the mother eats an octopus, the suckers are supposed to spoil the mouth, hands,
and fingers of the child in the womb. The mokipu shell-fish is supposed to cause
diarrhoea to pregnant women ; when roasted, the meat in the shell is soft and glutinous,
and makes no sound when it is put on the embers to roast.
1 Mr Hunt says, " birth-marks were supposed to be caused by the pregnant woman eating a certain kind
of fish, komiar, the juices of which touched the child and caused the mark, komsar gale " (Journ. Antli. Inst.
xxviii. 1899, p. 11).
H. Vol. VI. 14
106 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
On the other hand the following shell-fish make a hissing sound, au mermer,
when being roasted, and if the mother eats these, the child will be a good talker
and singer and lusty lunged (iverem au debe wed a mermer le, 'child very good song
and speech person'). These are nasir (Trochus niloticus), seskip (Turbo sp.) and maber
(Megalatractus and Triton). The latter, or Trumpet shell, is an extremely suitable
emblem of a good talker, and Mr Bruce informs me that few of the mothers have
omitted to eat of that shell-fish.
CHILD-BIRTH.
The following accounts are mainly derived from Mr Bruce. Generally a near
relative would assist the wife at the birth of a child, either her own mother, sister, or
aunt, and the husband's mother would, as a rule, be present also. The women in
attendance are called auski kosker, auski means one crouching down, or one sitting
' on his hunkers.' In most cases when the infant was not wanted, and the parents wished
the birth kept secret, the mother would not have anyone to assist her, or only have
her own mother or some other near relative with her.
When the mother was in travail the auski kosker told the husband that he must
go into the sea, as his wife was in great pain. The husband then went into the sea
and kept on diving into the water, in order to relieve the pains of his wife, this he
had to do continuously till the child was born. Then the auski kosker told him to
cease, and complimented him on having so well assisted at the birth of the child; the
child is then presented to him. Sometimes the man is kept diving in the water
for hours1.
The mother-in-law, or some other woman, cooks for the husband, as the newly-made
mother does no work for two weeks. The husband gives a present to his mother-in-law.
Mr Hunt gives the following particulars : " If the birth was delayed the husband
would seek the aid of a sorcerer who would take some sacred object, e.g. a spear, and
put it in the sea, when the child would be born. Or the husband himself would be
sent by the midwife to stand in the sea, and as soon as his legs felt cold the child
would be born. The sister of the husband would receive the child as it was born....
The woman was not considered unclean after child-birth, nor was any ceremony necessary
for her re-admission into society. In the case of still-birth, the body of the child was
dried and hung up in the wind, sometimes it was painted" (1. c. p. 11).
LIMITATION OF CHILDREN.
Prolonged lactation tends to reduce the size of families. A child is generally
weaned when it begins to bite hard with its teeth ; weaning is accomplished by the
mother anointing her nipples with a decoction of chillies and water. Lactation is,
however, often prolonged beyond this time as children nearly three years old have been
observed at their mother's breast.
1 Mr Bruce adds, "it is a good opportunity for the mother-in-law to pay him off for any old grievances she
may have against him"; this may be the case, but it is essentially a case of contagious sympathetic magic.
BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD CUSTOMS, AND LIMITATION OF CHILDREN. 107
Foeticide.
Various checks to the increase of the population were frequently employed, and
indeed they are so still to a limited extent. Mr Bruce does not know of any operation
performed on men or women to induce sterility, nor is any diet adopted as a check
to fertility ; but old women may give to young women the young leaves of the argerarger
(Callicarpa sp.), a large tree, of which the fruit is inedible ; sobe (Eugenia, near E.
chisiacfolia), a large tree with edible fruit ; and bok, a large shrub. The young leaves
of these trees are well chewed and the juice swallowed, until they feel that their
bodies are wholly saturated with the juice. The process takes some time, but when
their system is thoroughly impregnated, they are supposed to be proof against fecundity
and can go with men indefinitely. Both men and women strongly believe in the
efficacy of these leaves, sterile women tell their husbands they use these plants as a
preventative and they are believed.
Abortion is procured by medicinal and mechanical means. The leaves of the shore
convolvulus, wakor (Ipomsea pes-caprae), which grows on the beach, are used for this
purpose and it is also said to be a preventative. The Rev. A. E. Hunt says (1. c.
pp. 11, 12): "Abortion was very common, for various reasons: sometimes (as in the
case of a single girl) from shame, sometimes to save the mother the trouble of child rearing.
For the purposes of abortion the leaves of certain trees were chewed. The leaves of
the sesepot [Clerodendron sp.], mad lewer [Pouzolzia microphylla], ariari and ap
[Macaranga tanarius] were sometimes mixed with coco-nut milk and drunk. This
caused little or no pain. Failing that, the leaves of the tim, mikir [Terminalia catappa],
sobs [Eugenia], bok, sem [Hibiscus tiliaceus] and argerger [argerarger, Callicarpa] were
chewed together. This medicine caused great pain, but killed the child.
" When medicine failed harsher methods were resorted to. Sometimes the abdomen
would be beaten with big stones, or the woman would be placed with her back against
a tree, when two men would take a long pole, and, taking either end, would place
it against her abdomen and by sheer pressure crush the foetus. It need scarcely be added
that such treatment frequently killed the women as well."
Mr Bruce has given me the following details. If a woman, who finds herself
pregnant, wishes to induce abortion, she ties a vine round her body or a rope made of
coco-nut fibre; or she climbs a coco-nut palm and bumps her stomach against the trunk
in ascending and descending ; or when she goes to her gardens she will fill a basket full of
yams or sweet-potatoes, lie on her back and put the heavy basket on her abdomen. In
some cases she presses a bamboo on her abdomen, or strikes it with something heavy
and hard. The old women also recommended the simple expedient of carrying heavy
loads from the gardens.
Infanticide.
Mr Hunt gives the following reasons for this practice : "After a certain number had
been born, all succeeding children were destroyed, lest the food supply should become
insufficient. If the children were all of one sex some were destroyed from shame, it
being held proper to have an equal number of boys and girls" (I.e. p. 11).
14—2
108 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
According to Dr W. Wyatt Gill, "The custom here [Erub] and at Murray Island (and
we believe throughout the Straits) has hitherto been to rear only two children in each family.
The rest are strangled or buried alive by the cruel father as soon as born. Illegitimate
children were invariably murdered by the mother, to avoid the toil of having to provide
food for them." He then narrates how Guchen, the Polynesian teacher at Erub, adopted
a newly-born girl infant whom the father was going to kill ; the latter said, " I have two
children already : who will be charged with the feeding of this one ? " " On another occasion
Guchen was too late.... The Erub people, however, have promised in the future to preserve
their little ones, and also to give up the embalming of the dead" [Nov. 1872] (Life in the
Southern Isles, 1876, p. 213). On the authority of the same teacher d'Albertis states, "it
is the custom to kill the female children at birth in Erub " (New Guinea, Vol. I. p. 238).
The Rev. A. W. Murray writes that "the rule on Darnley Island was not to rear more
than three children" ; he also recounts the adoption of the girl by the teacher and says she
had "delicate features, and a light skin, considering her parentage... the unnatural mother
•consented to suckle the child for one month" (Forty Years' Mission Work etc." 1876, p. 469).
Mr Bruce estimated that four is about the average number of children in a
family, but by consulting the genealogies it is found that 2'6 is the average number
excluding marriages in which there are no children, and 3'6 excluding also those in
which there is only one child. Tibi and Godai (1) have the largest family on the
island, with 10 children (four boys and six girls). In 1898 Mr Bruce states there
were thirteen sterile married women out of a total of 211 females.
An analysis of the size of families was made by Miss Kingston with the following
results : In a total of 372 families recorded in the genealogies there were 918 children, or
2'44 per family. In the present (first) generation : 138 families, 264 children, av. 1'84.
In the second generation: 160 families, 409 children, av. 2'55. In the third generation:
56 families, 209 children, av. 3'73. In the fourth generation : 9 families, 27 children,
av. 3. In the fifth generation : 2 families, 5 in one and 1 in the other. The following
list gives the number of children in a family for each generation. Present : 1 of 10, 5
of 6, 11 of 5, 6 of 4, 23 of 3, 19 of 2, 38 of 1, 35 of 0. Second : 1 of 12', 5 of 7, 3 of
Q, 16 of 5, 19 of 4, 27 of 3, 37 of 2, 33 of 1, 19 of 0. Third: 2 of 7, 7 of 6, 10 of 5,
9 of 4, 9 of 3, 11 of 2, 8 of P. Fourth.: 2 of 5, 1 of 4, 3 of 3, 1 of 2, 2 of 1-. Taking
the second and third generations only, so as to eliminate missionary influence, we find
that the average numbers in the families of above three children were respectively
4'8 and 5'7. Ignoring families of 0 or 1, there is an average of 3'41 in the second
generation and of 4'18 in the third. These figures tend to show that while feticide
and infanticide doubtless were prevalent, their practice did not seriously tend to affect
the actual population of the island of Mer, though they prevented over-population.
Out of a total of 915 children, 489, or 53-4%, are boys, and 426, or 46-5%, are
girls, thus female infanticide does not appear to have produced a very marked effect
upon the relative proportion of the sexes.
1 This family (5) consisted of 11 boys and 1 girl.
2 The absence of families of 0 children in these generations is probably due to their being forgotten as
being of no importance in the genealogies.
BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD CUSTOMS, AND LIMITATION OF CHILDREN. 109
The following information was obtained from Mr Bruce :
Infanticide is not now practised, although it was formerly. To a certain extent
it was done in secret, but their own laws took no cognisance of it, even if it were known
that the parents practised it.
Female children were more frequently killed than males, especially if there were
more than one in the family, and they had male children, but if they had no male
children the female child would not be destroyed unless the family was considered
too large. Male children would also be destroyed if the parents had what they considered
a large enough family.
The parents considered that the male child assisted to perpetuate the name and
family, but that the female did not do so, but left her family and group to follow any
man she fancied. It was also thought that girls required too much looking after when
grown up, through young men coming to see them when they were working in the
gardens, so that they were a hindrance rather than a help in garden work. Also at
night the parents could not get their proper rest, through having to be continually
on the alert, lest their daughter should be stolen by the young man of her choice.
Again, if the husband or wife had a quarrel with someone, they might be
taunted with having a large family, and be told that all the people were talking
about them, and calling them au segsey le, and they would then be greatly ashamed,
and decide that the next child born should die. Formerly four was considered a
large family, and any more than that brought ridicule on the parents, to which they
are very sensitive. There was one case in court in which a husband summoned a
woman for slandering his wife, by calling her au segsey kosker, in presence of a crowd
of people. He was very sorry the woman could not be punished for the offence, and,
it being explained to him that he ought to be proud of his large family (numbering
three) he brightened up and said the accused woman was " no good " as she had no
family and vvas jealous of his wife, " E adud kosker, nole werem kak e didkit." ' She
bad woman, no children at all.'
If the parents of the child were an old couple, they feared the ridicule and
gossip the birth would cause, and the child was invariably killed whether male or female.
The father was generally consulted if he wanted the child to live, but not necessarily
so if the woman herself desired the death of the child. Sometimes the husband
ordered it to be destroyed and might perhaps do it himself; or the parents might
arrange beforehand that the infant should be destroyed at birth.
When the child was to be destroyed the father killed it by pressing the head
with his hands over the brain, demaiser keremge (break up head), or strangling it
with a cord, werem. pap lager dimri (child — cord tie round). They buried the body
at night near the house, or took it out to the edge of the reef and sank it in the
deep water with stones, as an unweighted body has sometimes turned up again on
the beach. If the parents did not care about keeping the birth secret, they simply
told the auski kosker to "pap lager dimri a demaiser loerem," or the husband himself
did it ; if inquiries were made by the neighbours, they were told the child was
still-born, bes-esmeda.
Parents now find it profitable to have large families, for the sons can always
110 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
find plenty of employment in the pearl-shelling fleet, or beche-de-mer fishing, at both
of which they are well paid, receiving from thirty shillings to two pounds per month, all
found, and where there are two or three sons in the family at work, it means many
luxuries to the parents, in the way of calicoes, coats, and trousers, camphor-wood boxes,
tobacco, and so forth.
Daughters are also found now to be very valuable property, for they are always in
great demand in marriage, by their own countrymen, and also by the South-Sea, Malay,
and Manila men. It is not generally a love match, but the highest bidder, the man
who can give the most, is the husband the parents choose for their daughter. The
daughter is of far more lasting value to the parents and relatives than a son, because
the man who marries the daughter has to be continually paying and making presents
to her parents, brothers, sisters, and cousins, and as there are so many, this is a con-
tinual drain on the resources of the "lucky" man.
Parents now prefer South-Sea or Manila men for sons-in-law, and in one year
(1899) there have been no less than three girls mai'ried away from the island ; this
is causing much trepidation among the young men who want wives ; and parents
who have sons and cannot get wives for them are crying out that Murray Island will
soon be " finished."
Although feticide and infanticide were commonly practised, the desire for children
is manifested in the frequency of adoption and the readiness with which the charge
of orphan children is assumed by their relatives.
TWINS.
Mr Bruce says : " The Murray Islanders usually deny that twins have been born
on the island, but I have been informed of one or two cases, though it was not
publicly known that twins had been born. Sometimes one of the twins was preserved,
and the other destroyed, even the husband was not informed that twins had been
born, one only being shown to him ; the women kept it secret from the husband, as
he would be greatly ashamed to know that twins had been born. The women also
profess to be greatly ashamed at the birth, as they say "it is all the same as a
dog." Within the last four years three women have given birth to twins on the
island. The first was the wife of the London Missionary Society Teacher, a Samoan
woman. The natives pretended to be quite horrified at the idea of such an unnatural
birth. Shortly after two Murray Island women had twins, I believe the first births
of the kind made public. The Samoan's children lived and are thriving well. The
Murray women's twins died shortly after birth only living a few days, one male child
only survived of the four."
Mr Hunt says: "In case of twins the first child born was preserved and the
second was destroyed. Triplets, etc., were unknown" (1. c. p. 11).
Dr C. S. Myers has put on record the following : " Twin pregnancies are rare :
there are only two on record. But the scarcity of such records may be due to the
fact that in former times one of the babies was always killed. To the native mind
a litter of babies indicates loose morality on the part of the mother. ' Mother much
BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD CUSTOMS, AND LIMITATION OF CHILDREN. Ill
'shamed. She all same dog.' A birth of twins occurred during our visit. Later, one
of them ' died.' " (St Bartholomew's Hospital Reports, xxxv. pp. 93, 94.)
CUSTOMS AFTER CHILD-BIRTH.
The customs after child-birth and the treatment of the children are pretty much
the same among the Eastern as among the Western Islanders (Vol. v. p. 199).
The piercing of the septum of the nose and of the lobes of the ears took place
very early in life, the former being done a few days or weeks after birth ; neither
has any connection with deformations that are made when mourning. What details
were obtained will be found in the first volume.
Children eat the same kind of earth as pregnant women (p. 105) till about five
to seven years of age, to make them strong, brave, and hardy. The Rev. A. W. Murray
states that in Erub " the liver [presumably of a deceased male] was cut up and distributed
among the young male members of the family to make them plucky" (1. c. p. 452).
Mr Hunt gives the following particulars concerning child-naming : " When the child
was about a week old1, friends were invited to a feast called delek, where a name
would be decided upon. Sometimes they could not agree ; and as each stuck to the
name of his or her selection, the child would be called by several names. Generally
the child was named by the wife's sister or by the husband's mother.
Dr Myers has made the following remarks upon the treatment of children : " The
children are well cared for by their parents. The father intrusts himself with the
new-born babe when the family is out gardening. It is not uncommon to see the
return of a household in procession from the bush (the gardens) headed by the father,
who bears in his two hands the precious infant, while behind come the wife and
daughters staggering under heavy loads of coco-nuts and bananas. Children are not
often disobedient, but they are never beaten by their parents. In return for their care,
the children show scant affection for their parents in old age " (St Bartholomew's
Hospital Reports, xxxv. p. 95). The fondness of parents for their children, own and
adopted, was very obvious, and one frequently sees a father nursing young children.
It is evident from the fearlessness of the children of all ages and the way in which
they mix with their elders that they are uniformly well treated.
PUBERTY CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS.
The initiation of young men into the Bomai-Malu, Waiet, and Meket Siriam cults
is detailed elsewhere in this volume. We have not heard that seclusion of girls at
puberty was formerly practised, certainly it does not now occur. Mr Hunt says
(1. c. p. 11): "The moon was supposed to be a young man who at certain periods
defiled all women and girls, causing a bloody discharge. No special custom was
observed on a girl's attaining the age of puberty."
1 Mr Bruce says, " the father gives a feast called dilik when the child is about a month old."
VI. COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE.
BY A. C. H ADDON.
YOUNG people had every facility for becoming acquainted with one another, not
only at the numerous social functions, such as dances, feasts, distributions of food aiswer
or mam, exchange of presents tama, serenading parties rob wed, the fanning game
totuam, funeral ceremonies and the like, but as the island was so small everybody
was known to everyone else and no houses or villages were really remote.
There is no doubt that marriages were usually love matches, and, as the girls
had considerable licence before marriage, lovers could become intimate with one another
before taking the final step.
The following account of the usual marriage customs is that published by the
Kev. A. E. Hunt in the Joui-n. Anth. List, xxvni. pp. 9—11 :
" A young man, having seen a girl he desired, would prepare a medicine from
certain native trees (kusibager [a zingiberaceous plant], mar [a scented grass-like plant
from New Guinea], pekiau [scented bark of drift-wood from New Guinea], kerakera
[a pungent zingiberaceous root], pas [Ocimum or Andropogon], ogo, kokuam [scarlet
Hibiscus], and mantel (female) [sic]). A very small portion of the leaves of each
of these would be chewed and mixed with coco-nut oil or turtle oil and heated. A
very little was then eaten, and the remainder rubbed over his body, after which he
would go off to the dance. The girl, seeing him, would probably desire him and would
inform a female friend of the fact. The friend (map le) would seek out a friend of
the young man, and try to arrange matters, the girl's parents remaining in total
ignorance of what was going on.
" In the night the girl would sham sleep to deceive her parents, but would really
be on the alert for some signal from her lover. The young man with a few friends
would secretly visit the house of the girl at night, and, on giving the signal, the
latter would creep out of the house and the two lovers would run away and hide
in the bush1.
"In the morning the parents would miss the girl and go in search of her. The-
map le then calmly informed them of what had happened, and the parents, calling
on their friends to help, would rush off to the village of the abductor of their daughter,
brandishing their clubs and spears, and a fight would ensue, but very rarely was
anyone injured. The lovers meanwhile remained in hiding pending the result of
the fight.
1 Hence the native word "to marry" (ispili) really means "to hide."
COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE. 113
" The parents of the girl having vindicated their rights, returned to their own
village, and a conference was held as to the amount to be paid for the girl by the
bridegroom and his friends. The map le would then arrange a feast, and the friends
were asked to contribute gifts of food, etc. which were brought and piled up in heaps
on the ground.
<:The female map le would then fetch the bride and seat her on a mat placed
in a central position. This being done, the female friends of the bridegroom would
bring presents of newly-made grass1 petticoats and pile them in a heap by the side
of the bride. The latter would then stand up, and one of the women would begin
to put the green petticoats on her, putting one on the top of another until they
reached the heart. By this time the weight of the petticoats had increased so as
to render it impossible for the poor girl to stand • without assistance, and she had to
sit down. Next, necklaces of dogs' teeth were hung in profusion around her neck,
her head, shoulders, neck and breast being first anointed with a mixture of red ochre
and cocoanut oil.
"The adornment of the bride being complete, the friends of the bridegroom would
prepare some food and call upon the bride's relations to come and ' shake hands '
[tag augwat] and a procession was formed for this purpose. The bridegroom pretended
to be greatly ashamed, and hid his face, holding out his hand to be shaken, the bride
remaining seated in her place on the mat. In the procession, the sister of the bride
(if any) came first, then the mother and father, then relatives and friends. These all
brought their presents and laid them at the feet of the bride, shaking hands with
her as they did so. After this the parents of the bride took a share of the gifts
and departed, the weeping bride crying out Bakeamu ! bakeamu ! (' Go ! go ! ').
Seeing the bride weeping, one of her friends would go and sit by her side to comfort
her. Food is again brought by the friends of the bridegroom and the bride distributes
it, the husband remaining in his place apart.
" After the food distribution the bride is carried off by the women to a house
set apart for the purpose, the husband going with his male friends to the men's
quarters. Then begins a period of instruction in the duties of husbands and wives,
the bride being taught by the old women and the bridegroom by the old men. This
lasts some days, during which the husband is fed by his mother, and the bride has
to feed her husband's friends. After a few days the grass petticoats still worn by the
bride become dry, and that is the signal for the proceedings to be brought to a close.
The superfluous petticoats are removed, and the friends then leave the bride and
bridegroom alone.
" The wife would shyly offer her husband foud and he would bashfully accept.
They would then eat together, and from that time they would be regarded as man
and wife. The ceremony had no religious significance."
I copied the following from some MS. notes kindly lent to me many years ago
by Dr MacFarlane. "The parents and friends of the betrothed assemble with the girl.
The young man is sent for, both sit on a mat in the centre. A yam is broken by
1 They never were made of "grass." A. c. H.
H. Vol. VI. 15
114 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
the young man, one end of which is given to the parents of the bride, and the other
to those of the bridegroom, the middle portion is divided between the couple. The
food and presents are passed over the bended heads of the couple."
I obtained the following information. When a young man came to an understanding
with a girl he put his gelar, taboo, on her saying, " No man come humbug you. I
go sleep along other girls all the time, when finished, I come take you." If she
broke the gelar, she ran the risk of losing her lover.
When they wished to be married, the man said to the girl, " You no sleep, I come
for you to-night," then as my informant laconically put it, ' night come, family sleep,
girl gammon sleep, man come, make noise outside, girl savvy, go out and go to man's
house.' I was assured that no impropriety took place on this occasion.
The next morning the mother looked round and missed her daughter, and they
made efforts to find out where she was. Then her father, brothers, or near relations
took their bows and arrows, stone-headed clubs, and sharks' teeth fastened to a stick,
and went to the house of the young man's father where the girl was in hiding.
The girl's relatives fought with the bridegroom's relatives, the bridegroom himself being
in hiding in the bush. There was a real fight (' fight proper, no gammon ') and
wounds might be given, but no lives were taken. The girl's father would say to the
man's father, " You go see my girl. Man belong you no good, he no give me any
thing. Suppose he give me food, presents, all right."
A woman put numerous petticoats round the girl which weighed her down so
much that two women had to hold her up, and her face was painted red. The father
of the bridegroom gave the bride a necklace of dogs' teeth, seserig, and a necklace
of olive shells, waraz. I was informed that she remained thus heavily weighted
with petticoats and with the clanking ornaments, under the close superintendence of
her future husband's parents for the space of one month. Then her father and relations
came to tag augwat, that is the old method of greeting by scraping hands, and the
prospective husband gave numerous presents to his father-in-law.
After this some of the petticoats were gradually removed and the old women
rubbed the paint off the girl with coco-nut oil and took off the necklaces and put
on numerous o1 (triangular white shell pendants), which hung on 'her chest, and a
number of ter or luper (turtle-shell bodkins which were used for shredding the leaves
of which petticoats were made and for piercing the nasal septum of infants) and sabagorar
(turtle-shell ornaments shaped more or less like fish-hooks), which hung down her back.
All these ornaments are figured on pi. XVI. A C-shaped circle of red paint was
inscribed round each eye — the incomplete portion being towards the median line.
Subsequently the bride gave food to her husband for the first time and. they
were then man and wife. During the whole of the preceding time the young man
did not sleep in the same house as the girl.
Mr Bruce says : " A young bride was loaded with ornaments, which must have
been very uncomfortable, she only wore them, as far as I can make out, for about
1 Mr Bruce states that these ornaments are also called o kaukau or icauri o, and that they are worn only
by married women, uo single girl or woman could wear them.
COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE. 115
two months and they were removed from her when the tiers of petticoats were taken
off at the marriage feast."
Mr Bruce states that South-Sea men and others who marry native women prepare
feasts at marriages, and the Miriam follow the example in a half-liearted way, but
if left to themselves they do not make festive occasions of weddings1. Marriage has
never been a time of much rejoicing, but rather the opposite, as a fight was generally
the consequence in the times not so very far remote ; virtually it was a theft, the
bride being always stolen, either with or without her own consent. Marriage is looked
at from a business point of view, the parents considering how much can be obtained
in the way of money and goods in exchange for the bride, while the bridegroom's
friends study how much land they will get out of the bride's family.
Young men married when they were about IS to 19 years of age, being considered
fit to marry when the hair began to grow on the face. Young women married when
the body was well developed and their breasts were well formed, that is when they were
from 16 to 18 years of age. There is little doubt that the men marry at an earlier
age now than formerly, doubtless due to the fact that they can easily earn wages by
working with pearl-shellers and beche-de-mer fishers, and thus they can raise sufficient
means to satisfy the cupidity of their prospective parents-in-law.
Formerly the people were pleased when two young people mated about the above
ages, and when they began to mature, the man getting too much hair on his face,
and the breasts of the woman becoming pendulous, the people ridiculed and chaffed
them as being too old for marriage. Now they marry at all ages, and there are a
goodly number of young women averaging from 19 to 22 years of age who are not
yet married ; the reason being that the parents prevent them from marrying, wishing
them to wait until they get a wealthy husband, such as a South-Sea or Manila man,
as these can generally give more in the form of goods and cash than a Miriam lad
can give, but if left to their own choice Mr Bruce .thinks the girls prefer their own
countrymen. Want of capital, as gardens, calico, cash, etc. prevent the young men
from getting wives.
Mr Bruce says : " The only man on the island who can be considered an old
bachelor, and not likely to get married is Memi of Boged (7 B); he is considered
weak in intellect, and comes of a family several members of which have been similarly
afflicted; his sister was married, although mentally weaker than her brother; Memi
has plenty of land, and if there had been no objection to him he would have been
married. There are a great many widowers who would like to re-marry, but the widows
prefer a young man, or to remain widows. Paipe of Babud (9 C) is the only woman
who may be considered as an old maid, she has had plenty of offers of marriage but
seems to prefer remaining single, she is a hard working woman of about forty years
of age, and her position very much resembles that of some of her white sisters, as
she seems to have devoted her life to the purpose of rearing her nieces and great
nieces, she has three different families of them to provide for. The last family she
took under her care was that of her deceased brother (Baigo) ; the widow married a
1 Feasting is principally connected with the death-ceremonies.
15—2
116 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
young man, and Paipe took charge of the family as she thought the young man
would not look after them properly, and the mother did not particularly want them,
so I really think Paipe has not time to get married ; always when I see her I ask
her, ' When is it to be ? ' Paipe shrugs her shoulders and says, ' Ah ! what's the
good of it ? ' ( Waiai ! nalugelam ?}
"Probably every one on the island of a marriageable age could get a wife up to
the last few years, but in the future I think it will be different, as so many women
are getting married to strangers, or being reserved for that purpose, that young men
will find it difficult to find wives."
I am indebted to Dr Myers for permission to extract the following account from his
note-book. A curiously complicated love affair was for some weeks the main topic in the
island during our stay there. Night after night the elders of the families interested met and
discussed solutions of the difficult problem. Mr Bruce said that almost invariably during the
past fortnight someone knocked at his door just as he was about to sleep, asking for advice ;
as a matter of fact marriage is now unusual in Mer, unless attended by complications
such as these. A year previously a young girl named Maima (21 A) sent a boy Aki (22)
a pockethandkerchief as a declaration of her affections. Aki was at that time far too proud
to have anything to do with his forward lover. However the heads of the families who
were interested met together, and it was agreed that Maima should marry Aki ; in exchange
for which Milpal, Maima's brother, should marry Ikob (1). Ikob had always been considered
as Aki's sister; she is actually the daughter of Tibi, who gave her when a baby to be
adopted by Aki's father who had no daughter. Later Ikob wrote to Maima (no doubt under
the pressure of her relatives) that she could not marry Milpal as she was not of the same
blood and flesh as Aki. Aki was by this time desirous of Maima, who wrote to him
evidently at the dictation of her friends (Milpal being then away on a shelling lugger), "Your
sister fooled my brother; I fool you now. I send back your ring." Various relations of
Maima interested themselves in her behalf. A youth named Madsa (8 A) was also a suitor
for her hand. Jimmy Rice (26), her uncle, who said he had given her calico and 'looked
out for' her when a child, declared that he would not allow the marriage of Maima with
Madsa, no doubt because he foresaw no prospect of presents from the latter. Madsa had
one unmarried sister, Kai, but she could .not wed Milpal because Madsa had been adopted
by Sisa (4 c), and apparently Kai was no longer regarded as his sister. The father through
adoption should have provided a daughter, but as neither Sisa nor Ulai (4 c), Sisa's le, had
any daughters, nothing could be done. On the death of Sisa, Harry, the old Mamoose, had
become Madsa's guardian, but here again there was no help, for Harry too had no daughters.
Maima was an orphan living with Debe Wali, her sister's husband. Debe Wali gave a vivid
account of his rude awakening from his slumbers by the raps of Madsa and his friend Tapau
upon the door. Madsa was however beloved by a girl named Diwadi (11) living at Akup.,
Her people endeavoured to force her into a marriage with Pakin, the son of Saila Lifu of
Darnley Is. Pakin, who was away on the reef, found no favour with the lady. The same
fate attended Giaz, a young Murray Islander, whose cause was urgently forwarded by his
relative Debe Wali.
Since we left the island Mr Bruce has sent us an account of the termination of these
complicated love affairs. When it WHS found that the marriage met with such determined
opposition, Maima was abducted by Madsa and his friends. The case was tried in the court
COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE. 117
on the following morning and the girl was returned to her family. Mr Bruce then endeavoured
to exert his influence in favour of this marriage which seemed to him suitable in all respects,
but the girl's friends were obdurate and refused to hear of the marriage till Milpal had
found a wife. Later in the year, however, Maclsa and Maima went to Erub with many of
the Murray Islanders on the occasion of the opening of a new church, and here the influence
of the Samoan teacher and other South-Sea men, who had throughout favoured the marriage,
was so strong that the wedding took place in spite of the protests of the girl's relatives.
Things were managed very differently in the olden times. Then a girl, falling in love
with the fine physique or the agile movements of a young dancer, would communicate
her desires by the aid of a go-between male friend and escape with her lover at
night from the house of her parents. In the morning she would be brought back, a
sharn fight would take place between the relatives of the happy couple, and many
presents would be bestowed on the parents of the bride. Finally with due formalities
she would be given over to the bridegroom.
Weddings are determined at the present day less by feelings of admiration or
affection than by the measure of wealth which the marriage will bring to the parents
of the bride. In most cases payment by the bridegroom is obviated by an exchange
of daughters ; that is to say, the parents of a girl select for her a man whose parents
will give his sister to a brother of his bride1. On such occasions, presents of com-
paratively trivial value pass between the two families. Perhaps the practice of exchange
is the cause of some unusually early marriages, which have lately taken place. The
older people seem to recognise the possible evil, as they frequently send the bridegroom
away on a shelling logger for the year immediately after the wedding. A man
leaving the island for some time will put his wife under the care of a relative or
near friend, who, as he usually sleeps under the same roof with his protegee, has
been known to fall to the temptation of his position.
All marriages are now solemnised in the church by the South Sea teacher and
these are the only marriages that take place in the island. South Sea men some-
times get manned to Miriam women at Thursday Island, as it saves them trouble with
the bride's friends; several of them have been married at Mabuiag and Erub and these
are not registered at Mer. We witnessed the marriage of Dick (13 A) and Aba (7 D)
in the church on May 11, 1898. Dick was supported by Jimmy (26) who was his
kaimey (friend or companion), and Aba was supported by her friend Raima (4 A) who
was her neitaivet. The kaketut held for this wedding is described on p. 119.
According to Mr Bruce it seems that in former days sexual morality was lax
among unmarried girls, though strict among married women ; but now there seems to
be a tendency in the opposite direction. A " good wife," as she was called, was one
who was proud of her husband's successes with unmarried women.
We did not hear of any case of divorce, but Mr Hunt says "Divorce was per-
missible for adultery on the part of the wife, but the wife could not divorce her
husband" (I.e. p. 11). Dr MacFarlane informed me that adultery was uncommon and
that the husband of an adultress speared her on the legs or arms and sent her away.
1 As among the Western Islanders (Vol. v. p. 231) sisters were exchanged for wives and brothers for
husbands, this was called koko ken or keauk; these were not necessarily own sisters or brothers.
118 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
KAKETUT, PRESENT OF FOOD.
Kaketut is a ceremonial present of food given by the bridegroom to his wife's
relatives and their return present to his relations. The ceremony may take place any
time up to some years after the marriage, but it is never omitted ; the presents are
not regarded as marriage presents.
If a recently married man has plenty of food in his garden he says to his wife,
" We will give your father a kaketut" or she may first make the suggestion. When
they have settled the matter, the woman tells her father and arranges a day for the
ceremony. He goes with his friends about two hours before sundown to his son-in-
law's place where the food has been previously set in heaps on the ground.
They generally have a small preliminary feast and visitors begin to gather
around as they know the kaketut is to be presented, and it always causes a lot of
fun. When all are ready for the ceremony, the one to receive the present and his
friends take their stand beside the heap of food, three or four of them clasp each
other with their arms (pi. XV. figs. 3, 4) and bend their heads towards the centre
of the circle ; when they are in this position the givers of the present pile the food
up on their heads, necks and shoulders. When they consider there is as much as
they can bear, the master of the ceremonies claps his hands and calls out " Sina,"
" Enough." Immediately on hearing the hand-clap the friends of the recipients relieve
them of their load by throwing it off as quickly as they can. As soon as the last
object is removed, the husband's party lose no time in piling another load on the
men's backs, and the wife's party show their dexterity in handling the food by
relieving their friends as soon as the signal " stop ! " has been given. So it goes on
until the heaps of food have been finished. Sometimes a man has to be relieved,
not being able to stand the strain, and it. may happen when they are strong able
fellows and great piles put on, that other male friends will creep in underneath and
let the chests of the men rest on their backs for support. Occasionally a woman will
join the recipient group.
Great fun is caused by banging the baskets of food on the heads of the recipients,
a large heavy basket will be swung on a bamboo between two men and then bumped
down on the bent men. When all the food is finished, someone takes a vessel of
water and dashes it over the recipients, or two young coco-nuts are taken and cracked
together over their heads, which are wetted with the dripping fluid. Mr Bruce has
seen handfuls of flour subsequently thrown over the wet men, which made them look
very ludicrous. Kaketut is always a source of great amusement to the spectators, but
not to the recipients of the loads, and Mr Bruce has seen men with stiff necks and
sore backs for days after the ceremony. Sometimes the friends are so anxious to ease
their relatives that they will begin to remove the food before notice is given and
then a row ensues — but it is mostly a wordy war. The idea seems to be to give as
much pain and ridicule as they can along with the present.
The present is not strictly confined to food stuffs from the garden, a bag of flour,
a camphor-wood box, calico, or whatever came to hand might be thrown pell-mell, in
order to make the present look as lavish as possible.
COURTSHIP AXD MARRIAGE. 119
When the recipient thinks he is able he will give a kaketut in return, for in all
such presentations there is always a return, nothing is given for nothing. The custom,
however, keeps up friendly intercourse between the families and often helps to make
them friends again after their family squabbles. Very often the parents and family will
have no intercourse with their daughter and son-in-law after a marriage of which they
disapprove until kaketut has been given. The ceremony is not confined to son- and
father-in-law but may take place among any relatives, and women receive it as well as
men.
The receiver of the present brings with him his negwam, and failing these, he brings
his le, either his clan or his own brothers.
After distribution of kaketut, the food is carried off to the recipient's place where it
is shared out among those who have assisted him in the ceremony.
Kaketut is always given at nur, harvest time, when food is plentiful. A man or
woman may wait for years until a seasonable time arrives, when they have food in
abundance, as the object in kaketut is to make as large a display as possible.
Dr Myers made two photographs of a kaketut he witnessed in July, which was held
near Zomared in connection with a death-feast, bud lewer, for Billy's child, Morris, and Ned
of Dauar. As a number of friends of both parties were assembled, Aba (7 D), wife of
Dick Tui (13 A), decided to take this opportunity to give kaketut to (1) Nini (27), sister
of Pasi and widow of Giza (7), because she was married to a kinsman of Aba's father,
Gris1; and (2) to Ulai (4 c) because her mother, Seker, who was an Erub woman, was
called berbet by Ulai ; she was not Ulai's sister, only tebud berbet, that is a friendly sister.
In fig. 3, pi. XV., A is Ulai, B is Nini. Two men are swinging a large kind of
yam, kakigaba, on a bamboo, to bump it on Nini's back, and Arker (c) is helping to lift
the root on to the back of Nini, because her husband Kriba (29) is a relative of Dick Tui.
D is E6ged (12), wife of Gizu (4), who is nervously guiding and telling the men how to
put on the kakiyaba, as her husband is one of the recipients. She is there to assist Nini,
but she is no relative. The yelling and screaming crowd are enjoying the prospect of
seeing someone they have no love for getting a good thump on the head with the root.
Nini has thrown something over her, to save her dress from being spoiled. In the back-
ground can be seen three tall crates, one of which has been emptied, one is full, and a
man is taking food from another.
Fig. 4, pi. XV. represents another kaketut that took place at the same time. Su (21 A),
wife of Jimmy Rice (26), gave kaketut to Alo (18 B); she called Alo baba, he was no
relation but Alo's father and Su's father were great friends8.
A is Alo; B is Tanu (18), le to Alo, who is helping Alo; and Akoko [c] (18) the wife
of Barsa (20) is also helping Alo as she is Tanu's sister and Alo's berbet. Toik [D] (16)
is helping Su because he is a net/warn (his mother's brother's son) of Jimmy Rice3. Su is on
the far side helping to pile on the food. They are standing in position to get the photo-
graph taken ; otherwise there would be no time lost in putting on or taking off the food.
1 In the genealogies Aba's father is called Diri (7 D) ; probably these are two names for the same person.
- Alo's mother came from the same village (Werbadu) as Su's father, but no genealogical connection is
recorded.
" Toik is Jimmy Rice's mother's brother's daughter's husband.
VII. THE REGULATION OF MAEEIAGE.
BY W. H. R. RIVERS.
THIS article is based mainly on the data derived from the analysis of the
genealogical tables. This analysis has been carried out chiefly by Miss A. Kingston
to whose help in this respect I am very greatly indebted. An account of the laws
regulating marriage was also obtained from the natives, and there was found to be
a general agreement between this account and that derived from the study of the
397 marriages recorded in the genealogical tables.
MARRIAGES OUTSIDE THE MIRIAM COMMUNITY.
Out of the 397 marriages, 70 were with inhabitants of other islands of Torres
Straits or with members of other races, 38 men and 32 women having married in
this way.
There have been 39 marriages with inhabitants of Erub and Ugar, the two islands
which make up, with Mer, Dauar and Waier, the Eastern group. Of these marriages
with other islands of the Eastern group, 24 were between Miriam men and women of
Erub, eight between Miriam women and Erub men, while there have been five marriages
of Miriam men with Ugar women and two of Miriam women with Ugar men. Marriages
in which Miriam men take women from other islands of the Eastern group are thus
much more frequent than those in which Miriam women leave their island. Erub
women have a great reputation among -the Murray Islanders as hard .workers, and the
comparatively small number of marriages of Miriam women outside their island suggests
that they have not an equal reputation with respect to this first requisite in- a wife.
Many of the marriages with Erub and Ugar are recent, but such marriages have taken
place as far back as the genealogical record extends, though it is probable that with
increasing communication they are becoming more frequent.
There are only four marriages of Miriam people with inhabitants of the islands
intermediate between the Eastern and Western groups. Three men have married women
from Masig, Waraber and Aurid, and one woman has married a man of Zamut.
At the time of our visit there had been only four marriages with members of
the Western group. One man had married a woman of Tutu and had gone to live
on this island with his wife ; two women had married Mabuiag men and one a man
of Saibai. All these marriages are quite recent, and are due to the breaking down
of the old division between the two groups. Mr Bruce tells us that other marriages
THE REGULATION OF MARRIAGE. 121
have taken place recently between Miriam women and Mabuiag men and it seems
probable that they will become more frequent.
Only two marriages are recorded with natives of New Guinea, a Murray man in
each case marrying a woman from the Fly River. Neither marriage is quite recent,
but probably they have taken place since the coming of the missionaries to Torres
Straits.
Two men have married Australian women in recent years, and in one case the
woman was still on the island at the time of our visit.
In all the other marriages of the Murray Islanders outside their community women
of the island had married men from various parts of the Pacific, with the exception
of one case in which a Miriam man had married a Lifu girl. The largest number
of marriages were with natives of Rotumah, of whom there were many on the island.
Some of these marriages had been only temporary, having been dissolved when the
husbands returned to their own homes. There were many children of these marriages
living on the island and, as they are now reaching a marriageable age, there will soon
be a very extensive intermixture of foreign blood in the population.
Marriages with South-Sea Islanders are very popular among the parents of daughters
on account of the presents received from their sons-in-law, and in consequence these
marriages are becoming so frequent that Mr Bruce tells us that young Murray Islanders
are beginning to find it difficult to get wives.
In defining their marriage regulations, the social unit of which the islanders usually
speak is the village. They say that a man must not marry his father's village or his
mother's village or that of his father's mother, and if one of his ancestors had been
adopted he is also debarred from marrying into the village to which he would have
belonged by actual descent. Sometimes these restrictions are put into a form defined
by kinship terms, and a man would say that he might not marry his berbet or his
negwam, but these kinship terms are now applied so widely that there is little
doubt that a man sometimes marries a woman whom he would call negwam in some
distant way.
The genealogical record has been analysed to ascertain how far these marriage
restrictions have been observed in practice. There is no single case in which two
people of the same village have married one another. If we regard the people of a
village as a clan, using this as a term for the social unit which forms the basis of
a system of exogamy, the genealogical record shows that the regulation that a man
shall not marry a member of his own clan is strictly observed.
Similarly there is no case in the genealogies in which a man has married into
the village of his father's mother, but owing to the limited number of generations
to which most of the genealogies extend, the number of cases in which this point
could be tested is not very large. There is one case (Neke, 1 A) in which a woman
has married a man of her father's mother's village.
The genealogies record six cases of marriage with the village of the mother. Thus
both Olmek and Nobo (4 D) married women of Eger, the village of their mother, Meker.
Olmek had, however, been adopted by Nau (18) of Er, and though, no doubt, Nau
would have taken care that his adopted son should not marry a woman of Sebeg, his
H. Vol. VI. 16
122 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
real father's village, it is not probable that the same care would have been taken in
the case of a woman of his mother's village. It is possible that the same explanation
may hold of the other five cases of marriage with the mother's village, i.e. those
of Giza (12), Gabi (12 c), Mabo (14 A), Ununi (17 A), and Giaz (25). In the absence
of a record of the adoptive as well as of the real parentage in the pedigrees, this
point must be left open.
There was some question whether there was a regulation prohibiting marriage with
the village of the mother's mother, and here the evidence from the genealogies is quite
enough to show that, if there ever was such a regulation, it has not been followed as far
back as the pedigrees extend. The number of cases in which the record allows this
question to be tested is very small, and yet it shows that four marriages of this kind
have taken place, viz. those of Bame and Arei (2), of Dau (12) and of Jimmy Rice (26).
Another marriage restriction of which we were told by the people was that with
the child of the mother's sister, and there is no case in the genealogies in which the
children of two own sisters have married one another. The interest of this regulation
is that it is clearly a regulation by kinship. The children of a woman might marry
with several different villages, and there would thus come about a restriction on marriage
with certain members of certain villages, though marriage was not restricted with members
of those villages in general. In such a case the people must certainly have had in their
minds a bond of kinship ; the regulation must have taken the form that a man must
not marry his berbet, and not, as seemed most usual with the Miriam, that he must
not marry such or such a village.
In none of the cases recorded in the genealogies in which men have married
women of their mother's, or their father's mother's village, has there been any close
tie of blood-kinship traceable through the genealogies, and it is probable that in such
cases the people take into account the degree of nearness of blood relationship when
considering whether a man shall marry into the village of his mother or other
prohibited section of the community. It is indeed possible that in other cases the
people have the kinship-tie more in their minds than I have supposed, and that, though
they always talk of marrying such and such a village, they usually think of the bond of
kinship which attaches to the membership of the village.
One of the marriage regulations described by the islanders cannot be tested by
the genealogies. It seemed clear that a restriction dependent on real parentage may
extend for several generations in the case of an adopted son. Thus I was told that
the sons of Pasi (27) would not be allowed to marry girls from the village of Las,
because Koit, their great-great-grandfather had been a man of Las by birth and had been
adopted by a Dauar man belonging to the district of Giar pit. Here the fact of real
parentage in the case of an adopted child influences the marriage for four generations,
and if both real and adoptive parentage had been recorded, our knowledge of marriage
regulations would, no doubt, be much more exact.
On the whole we may say that there is a fair agreement between the account
of the marriage regulations formulated by the people themselves and those reached by
a study of the genealogical record. This agreement is less close than among the
Western Islanders, but the greater discrepancy is doubtless due to the fact that the
THE REGULATION OF MARRIAGE. 123
record is much less complete in Murray Island and much more open to the sources
of error arising from the great prevalence of the practice of adoption.
The genealogical record has been analysed by Miss Kingston with the idea of
seeing if the regulation of marriage will throw any light on several features of the
social organisation.
The island is divided into certain districts shown in the map on p. 170, and there
is a question whether these districts were at one time concerned in the regulation
of marriage. The analysis makes it quite clear that at the present time marriage
frequently takes place between people belonging to the same district, but such marriages
are perhaps less frequent than those between people of different districts. Thus in the
Komet district no marriages have taken place between villages immediately adjacent to
one another except one between Saugiz and B5ged, though there are several marriages
between other villages of the district and as many as four between the villages of Sebeg
and B6ged. Similarly there are no marriages between villages immediately adjacent to
one another in the Zagareb district from Kop to Mei except one between Ulag and
Mei, though here again several marriages have taken place between other villages of
the district. Among the Samsep and other districts of the south-east side of the
island, on the other hand, immediate contiguity of village appears to have been no
bar to marriage, and two marriages have taken place between Las and Areb, between
Areb and Warwe and between Er and Eger respectively, while single marriages have
occurred between Mergar and Terker in the Mergarem district. On the whole it would
seem as if there was an objection to marriage between contiguous villages, at any rate on
one side of the island, and it may be that this is a survival of a time when marriage
was regulated by the districts into which the island is divided (for further consideration
of this point see article on " Social Organisation ").
Another problem of the social organisation of the Miriam is whether there has
existed in the island a dual marrying organisation into two phratries. Here again the
analysis fails to show any traces of such an organisation. Marriages between opposite
sides of the island are perhaps rather more frequent than between villages of the
same side, but this might be expected if marriages are still to some extent influenced
by the division into districts and it cannot be said that the marriage record lends
any support to the view that a dual organisation has existed in the Murray Islands.
It must be remembered, however, that in Mabuiag, where there is still evidence of the
previous existence of a dual organisation, all traces of it had completely disappeared
so far as the regulation of marriage was concerned. When marriage is prohibited with
the relatives of both father and mother, all traces of a dual organisation must of
necessity disappear in a few generations, and as this double restriction on marriage
is now present in both the groups of Torres Straits, it is not to be expected that
the genealogical record would provide any evidence of a phratriac arrangement even
if it had at one time existed.
16—2
124 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
EXCHANGE OF BROTHERS AND SISTERS.
The practice, called Icoko keu or keauk, of exchanging brothers and sisters is said
by the people to be their custom. The marriage of a man with a woman will be
greatly facilitated if the man has a sister who can become the wife of the brother of
the woman, and an excellent example of the part this regulation may play in marriage
negotiations has been given on p. 116.
As will be apparent from this history there seems to be at present much confusion
in the minds of the natives whether adopted brothers and sisters have the same standing
in this matter as blood relatives, but there can be little doubt that the proper custom is
that adoption in this, as in other respects, made the child completely a member of the
family of his foster-parents.
Although it is quite clear that exchange is a well established Miriam custom, there
are not many definite examples in the genealogies, and only ten examples are to be
found of exchange between own brothers and sisters. If, however, le in the wider
sense are included, there would undoubtedly be other cases, but here as elsewhere
the exact study of the subject is rendered unsatisfactory by my failure to record
adoption in compiling the pedigrees.
POLYGAMY.
There is at the present time no case in which a man has more than one wife, and
only five such marriages are recorded in the genealogies, viz. those of Kaimai (3),
Masig (4 A), Tata (5), Koit (14), and Aporo (14 B). One of the wives of the last is still
alive and two of the other cases were in the generation preceding that of men now
living. Only in one case, that of Koit, had a man more than two wives, and the old
men say that no other case can be remembered. It is noteworthy that in three out of
the five cases, one or both of the wives were from Erub, just as in Mabuiag one of the
wives in several of the cases of polygamy came from Moa. If a man wanted more than
one wife, it was probably easier to get the second wife from another island. As so often
in polygamous peoples, it would appear that in the Murray Islands only the more
powerful members of the community were able to obtain more than one wife ; Mr Bruce
says that if a man wanted a second wife he had to be either rich in land or in native
articles of value, or he must have been prominent in the Malu fraternity (tarim zogo le)
when he could command an extra wife from any village he wished to punish and the
woman would be given to appease him. Koit is said to have been able to obtain
his wives because he was one of the chief zogo le connected with Malu at that time.
There is no trace of the existence of polyandry at any time.
THE LEVIRATE.
After the death of a man his brothers had the right of marrying his widow, the
eldest brother having the first claim. If none of the own brothers wished to marry her,
she could be married by some other le or by a negwam of her husband, the marriage in
the former case being called le-la maik ispeda, lit. brother's widow married. That she
THE REGULATION OF MARRIAGE. 125
should be taken by the negwam seemed to be in some way improper, for the name
given to this practice was bud dipu, or " defile mourning."
Mr Bruce states that unless she was a very old woman, a widow was always taken
by her husband's relatives and that her own relatives had no right to interfere as she
belonged to the husband's family as long as they chose to claim her.
According to the genealogical record the levirate custom has not been by any means
invariably followed. In the pedigrees there are recorded 23 cases in which a woman had
more than one husband and in only six of these were two of the husbands own brothers,
while in another case the husbands were men of the same village. It is possible that in
some of the other cases the husbands were related as negwam or in some other way,
but the genealogical record is not sufficiently complete to follow many of them out to
any extent.
Although at the present time the levirate marriage is probably no longer followed,
a widow still often lives with her brother-in-law who acts as guardian to her children
and has the management and profit of any property which will be theirs when they
grow up.
In the cases recorded in the genealogies, the widow was probably taken by a
brother younger than the deceased husband, but there is no rule that this must be so ;
it would seem clear, on the other hand, that if a younger brother died, his elder
brothers would have the first claim on the widow.
Mr Bruce tells us that in recent years there have been several marriages between
young men and elderly widows with grown families, owing to the fact that the young
men had not sufficient means to satisfy the parents of unmarried girls and were able to
obtain the widows with very small outlay.
VIII. FUNERAL CEREMONIES1.
BY C. S. MYERS AND A. C. HADDON.
2.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE CERE-
MONIES.
(i) Treatment of the Corpse
(ii) Ethical Significance of the Cere-
monies .....
(iii) The KSber Ceremonies .
DETAILS or THE CEREMONIES.
(i) Procedure immediately after Death
(ii) The Asasem Wed
(iii) The Keber of Terer and Aukem .
(iv) The Keber of the Zera Markai .
(v) The Keber of the Pop le op
(vi) Erection of the Body on the paier
(vii) Preparation of the Body for
Mummification
(viii) The Bud lewer ....
(ix) The Keber of Eud lera Roairoai
(x) The Keber of the Baur Siriam .
(xi) The Wezwez Keber
(xii) The Keber of the Tur Siriam .
(xiii) The Siriam Keber of Areb and
Warwe
PAGE
126
127
127
129
130
131
133
135
135
136
138
139
141
142
142
143
PAGE
(xiv) The Keber of Dogai . . .143
(xv) The Seber Keber of Er . .144
(xvi) The Keber of the Siwi le . .144
(xvii) The Keber of the Dumi ebe le . 144
(xviii) Funeral Ceremonies of the Malu
Zogo le and Keparem le. . 145
(xix) Marking with Keg Warup . .146
(xx) Removal of the Body to the House 148
(xxi) Final Disposal of the Body . 149
(xxii) Theft of the Keber . . .149
(xxiii) Funeral Songs . . . .150
3. MOURNING.
(i) Initial Observances . . .153
(ii) Cutting the Ears . . .154
(iii) Koima marks . . . .154
(iv) Full Mourning Dress . . .156
(v) Destruction of Property . .159
(vi) Food during Mourning . .159
(vii) Drinking the Juices of the Dead 159
(viii) End of Mourning . . .159
4. MODERN CUSTOMS . . . .160
5. MEMORIALS 162
1. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE CEREMONIES.
(i) Treatment of the Corpse.
FOR twenty-four hours after death the body lay " in state " on the ground, cried over by
the women and sung to by the men (pp. 129, 130). It was then placed upon a horizontal
wooden framework where it remained for two or three days, until it was taken out to sea
(pp. 135, 136). After due preparation the body was lashed to another framework which was
set up vertically in the rear of the house (p. 136). In course of time the body became
dry and mummified. Thereupon it was affixed to a new framework and was brought within
the house. Here it remained until it fell to pieces. It was then removed to the " bush "
(pp. 148, 149). The head was frequently preserved and employed for purposes of divination.
1 A considerable amount of the information given in this section was obtained from Mr Bruce.
FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 127
Bodies which were foul from disease and the bodies of children and of old men were
often not prepared for mummification, but were taken at once to the gardens in the bush,
where they were placed upon a framework and left to decay ; the head being some-
times kept in the village and decorated with care according to usual custom. Or they
were buried (atkobei) close by the house. In that event, a stout piece of vine stem
or sinnet was pushed up the nose into the mouth and brought out again by means
of a cut in the skin below the chin. The ends of the stem were then tied firmly
together so as to keep the lower jaw in place. After burial a stick was placed in
the ground, and to its lower end was tied the above-mentioned stem. When decom-
position had sufficiently advanced, the stem was pulled upon and the entire head was
thus brought away from the body and preserved.
(ii) Ethical Significance of the Ceremonies.
Had not the very old and very young dead been exempted from the full rites
described in the following pages, the living would have been perpetually occupied with
funeral celebrations. Nevertheless as many as possible of the necessary ceremonies were
always performed in order that the ghost1 of the deceased might not feel slighted, for
otherwise it was sure to bring trouble on the relatives, by causing strong winds to
destroy their gardens and to break down their houses. Should trees or a house belonging
to any one be destroyed from this cause at any time, the disaster was attributed to
the displeased ghost of some departed relative. But the displeasure might have some
other cause than disregard of the mourning ceremonies. Indeed it is still believed that
a ghost may feel resentment when children of the deceased are neglected or wronged,
or when land or chattels of the deceased are taken by those who have no claim to
them. No doubt in the past such fear of the ghost's wrath had a deterrent effect
on wrongdoers, and helped to keep the people straight, although now they look rather
to the civil laws than to the ghosts as a means of getting their rights and punishing
offenders.
(iii) The K%b6r Ceremonies.
Of the numerous feasts held at different stages of the funeral rites, two were
specially connected with mourning. In the one (pp. 156, 157) the relatives were marked
by the nearest relative of the deceased with two streaks of a blackish paint made
from a New Guinea earth. In the other (pp. 146, 147) the friends were marked by
a non-mourner with a single streak of a paint made from charred coco-nut husk.
The majority of the feasts took place during the numerous keber ceremonies
(pp. 131-145). They were sometimes held in celebration of more than one death. In
this case several families would assist in collecting the food, labour would be econo-
mised and the pile of food would be larger than if only one death were being
commemorated, " making the non-relatives green with envy to see such piles and causing
them to make mental resolutions that at the next death in their clan they would make
a larger display of food " (J. Bruce).
Mr Bruce defines the term keber as the spiritual essence of the deceased. It was
represented either by the body of the man or by any object which was regarded as
1 For the distinction here made between "ghosts" and "spirits," see Eeligion.
128 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
his during his life or after his death. Thus in the "theft of the keber" (pp. 149, 150)
it mattered not how insignificant were the object stolen, so long as it was regarded
as part of the deceased himself. The theft of any portion of the body, or even of
a post or part of a post used in the funeral ceremonies, was considered equivalent
to disturbance of the ghost of the deceased itself. In this connection Mr Bruce adds
that by such theft the ghost of the deceased was made restless and was inclined to
give trouble to his living relations "by inflicting injury or by disturbing them until
they regained possession of the stolen keber."
The first keber of Terer and Aukem (pp. 131-133) stands on a rather different
footing from the others. It was the dramatisation of a legend that existed not only
in Murray Island (pp. 31-33) but under a different form in Mabuiag (cf. legend of
Aukem and Tiai, Vol. v. p. 56). Terer is said to have been the first person from
whose body the epidermis was removed by scraping (Terer e paur adem giz, " Terer he
skin to ancient origin"). For this reason the keber ceremony of Terer and Aukem was
performed before removal of the body to the framework. And just as in the legend
Terer's mother, Aukem, believed her son to be a spirit and ordered him to go to Boigu,
so in the keber ceremony Terer was supposed to take away the ghosts of the dead
to Boigu.
The men who impersonated the ghost of the deceased in the ceremony termed
end lera roairoai (pp. 139-141) were called keber le, i.e. keber people.
These keber ceremonies have one feature in common : they had all been introduced
from the Western islands of the Torres Straits. Thus it came about that the words of
the songs (cf. Vol. IV.) were almost meaningless to the Murray Islander. Their attempts at
translation were for the most part pure guesses. " They are only words," the islanders said,
" we don't know, but our fathers knew. The words are of no use ; the tune is good1."
The keber ceremonies were not considered "zogo"; in other words, they were not
so sacred as the mysteries of Bomai, Malu, and Waiet. " Bomai came before Waiet."
To Waiet the islanders attribute the introduction of the various keber celebrations.
Waiet first settled on Waier (see The Waiet zogo) and gave these rites to the Waier
and Dauar people, who claim that their islands were the giz ged, the " original places "
of the keber. The Waier and Dauar people in turn instructed certain • groups of people
on Mer : " they taught them, and then gave it (the keber) to them."
For example, Waiet taught the Dauar people the zera markai keber3 (p. 133).
They gave it to the people of Sebeg (K6met le) and Er on Murray Island and in
course of time ceased to practise it themselves3. Thus it came about that when a
1 As Mr Bruce says, "they scarcely know the words, or the meaning of them; they say the words of
a song are not necessary but the air only. But to see and hear the men sing it so earnestly and seriously,
one would think the words of great importance. One word, such as the name of a person, is quite sufficient
to make a song without the addition of any other word; they keep on repeating it, sometimes adding or
omitting a syllable."
2 The name is indifferently pronounced cbena markai or dsara markai. Markai was often pronounced merkai.
Alar and lamar are the equivalents of the Western mari and markai ; see the section on Beligion for an account
of these ghosts and spirits.
3 Mr Bruce also writes, "this was carried on by the K&met le; the zogo ged (home of the cult) was
Sebeg." According to another account, Waiet gave it to the K6met le, but the Geaurem le, whose headquarters
were at Er, brought it independently from Mabuiag.
FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 129
Dauar or Waier man died, the Er people received a fire-signal and went over in their
canoes and performed the zera markai keber for them. The people of Er also performed
this keber on the death of one of their own people, and those of Sebeg performed it
upon the death of one of theirs. The zera markai keber was only performed upon
these occasions ; those taking part in it were supposed to be ghosts.
So, too, the baur siriam1 keber (pp. 141, 142) had been taught to the Komet le
and to their neighbours the Meaurem le : no other folk were permitted to take part
in it. The spears (baur) and other objects used in the ceremony were kept in a special
house at Korog. The Komet le also had the wezwez keber (p. 142). The Zagareb le3
had the galbol (whale), the maid (magic) and the Nagir (Mount Ernest Island)3 siriam
keber. The Samsep le had the Tur siriam keber, the Geaurem le the seber keber, and
the Mergarem le the Paremar (Coco-nut Island) siriam keber, the Eger le the siwi4 keber
and the Kameri le of Dauar the dumi ebe keber.
Since the right to perform the various keber ceremonies was strictly safeguarded
by different groups of islanders, the funeral rites differed in number and character
according to the group or district to which the deceased belonged. If there were many
of the keber to represent, it would be sunset before the day's ceremonies were ended.
But the keber were never prolonged after daylight nor were they continued on the morrow.
As a rule they were finished by about an hour before sunset.
Mr Bruce observes that in these celebrations " there did not appear to be any
master of ceremonies. All seemed to know their own parts fairly well, but at the
start of each day's proceedings and in the changes of the programme, there were always
a lot of confusion and a babel of tongues at work ; but when once started, it was
wonderful how well they carried out all the details of each ceremony."
2. DETAILS OF THE CEREMONIES.
(i) Procedure immediately after Death.
As soon as a death had occurred, the women of the village started their wail (eb
ezoli), which was so weird and sorrowful that its cause would be unmistakeable even to
a stranger who had never heard it before. The wail is best likened to the wind
1 Unfortunately we have no precise information concerning the term siriam. From a note obtained by one
of us in 1888 it would seem that the Miriam tiriam is the same as the Western kwod, in which case the keber
would originally be the funeral ceremonies of a local group held in their particular ceremonial ground.
Mr Bruce has no doubt that originally each of these siriam ceremonies had its own special " supernatural
function." He leaves the question open whether at the present time their real symbolic meaning is merely
concealed or is no longer remembered by the islanders. He observes that there was great diversity of costume
among the different keber, but that a common character was recognisable in all, showing that they belonged
to the spirit world.
- We assume that the Zagareb le in this instance were not the larger community, but the inhabitants of the
locality Zagareb.
3 Attention has already been drawn to the culture influence of the Western Islanders upon the Miriam
(pp. 40-45, 128), and allusion will later be made to the same subject in dealing with the Waiet zogo, and
elsewhere.
4 A man named Siwi occurs in the Western folk tales (Vol. v. p. 26), but there is no indication that he has
any relation to the Kiwi keber.
H. Vol. VI.
130 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
reverberating through the hollow bamboo posts of the village fences; the sounds
consisting of a very gradual and continuous descent from a high to a low note.
There was a total lack of uuison in the cries of the several women, and it was this
that gave so strange a character to the whole. The wailing lasted only a few minutes
on the spot, but it was quickly taken up by the neighbouring villages and so passed
round the island. Messengers were also sent to the relatives and friends, who now
made their way to the house of the deceased.
Very often the relatives began to assemble at the house of the sick man some
days before he had passed away. They brought their sleeping-mats and their food
with them, they crowded into the hot, stifling death-chamber and with merry gossiping
talk awaited the end1. In some cases the patient recovered and they went dejectedly
away. Instances are even known when after the death-wails had started he regained
consciousness : or, as the natives firmly believe, after having died he came to life again.
In favourable weather the corpse was placed on the ground upon a mat in front
of the house, the arms were placed close to the side, and the great toes were fastened
to one another by a string made of the coco-nut husk, so as to keep the legs together.
The hair of the head (and face) was cut off and thrown away. The length of
the nose was measured with a piece of wood, which was preserved by a female relative
for subsequent use in making a wax mask for the prepared skull (p. 149). A small
bundle, about four inches long, of dried banana leaves or of the shredded sago palm
leaves from New Guinea, was rolled up and placed within the mouth to prevent the
escape of objectionable odour ; this was called te sursur. The dead man's bow and
arrow and his stone-headed club were laid beside him. From one of two croton plants,
placed in the ground, one at the head and the other at the feet of the corpse, was
suspended his tally, or kupe, which enumerated the occasions of his intercourse with
married women and unmarried girls. No tallies of other achievements were brought here.
The wooden stem of his stone top, kolap pes, was hung above him. It was the duty of
the negwam to prepare the corpse, this relative being of the same sex as the deceased.
Many relatives and friends cried and wailed over the body, and at times mourners
put their mouths to the ears of the corpse and sent messages to friends who had
gone before. The nearest relatives, e.g: the wife and mother, sat continuously by the
head of the deceased. Others were at their fires preparing food, laughing, joking and
eating, until those who were crying tired and desired to rest. In this way the
lamentations continued until about an hour after sunset, when the singers (wed le)
and the drummers (warup le) arrived. The dead man's bow and arrow were now
taken into the house, but his kupe was left hanging.
(ii) The Asasem Wed.
The asasem wed was now sung, the drummers sitting down near the body, the
singers surrounding the drummers, and the rest of the people joining in from without.
It seems that originally the asasem wed was connected with the nam zogo at Babud
and confined to the Meaurem le and the K6met le, living on the north-west of the
1 Mr Bruce writes: " Oue would never dream it was a mourning assemblage, as all are busy chatting,
laughing, and eating, seemingly quite happy and comfortable."
FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 131
island ; these people were hence called asasem giz le, the " original asasem people."
But the practice gradually spread from group to group so that later all were able
to join in this song. The drums were played by the old men. There were always
spectators spending the time gossiping, eating or sleeping, who were ready to take the
place of the singers when they were tired. In this way the asasem wed lasted through
the night and ended just as dawn was breaking1. Before the sun had risen, the
relatives of the deceased prepared two heaps of young green coco-nuts, one for the
men and one for the women. The sharing out of this food among the company was
called asasem pes.
(iii) The Keber of Terer and Aukem2.
About an hour after sunrise, having finished their meal, the people began to
withdraw from the body and to take up a position about thirty metres distant but still
in full .view of it. The drummers (warup le) then beat their drums in quick time, as
a signal of the approach of Terer, who was heard shaking rattles of serpa shells or gba
nuts in the bush. To increase the excitement (for the people were said to be in
great terror of him), Terer made several feints of coming out into the open. At
length with yet more vigorous and rapid drum-beats, the drummers began the following
song, turning their head from side to side to the time of the beating, as if they
wondered from what part of the bush Terer was about to emerge.
Ail Ui! Ui! Uil Ui! Ui! Ui ! Ui!
Terer e hue. Markai e bud.
(Terer is coming. The Spirit is coming.)
Ail Ui! Ui! Ui! Ui! Ui ! Ui! Ui!
Terer e bud. Markai e bue.
Ai ! Ui ! Ui ! Ui ! Ui ! Ui ! Ui ! Ui !
Terer e bud. Terer e pe ikas.
Ai! Ui! Ui! Ui! Ui! Uil Uil Uil
Markai e bud. Lamar e pe ikas.
In this way the people were worked up to a frenzy of excitement. Finally when
Terer emerged from the bush, the drummers beat and sang still more loudly, and
Terer advanced skipping, posturing and dancing towards the body.
Terer, who was always impersonated by a specially good dancer, wore around his
head a wreath of the slightly scented leaves of the ser tree, and a head-dress of the
mid-ribs of coco-nut leaves (or of croton leaves), which reached as far down as the nose,
like a vizor concealing his face. A long feather of the white tern (sirar lub) was fixed
at the centre of his brow and pointed backwards over his head ; this was called kaike3.
1 The only words of the asasem wed which we have been able to collect, are those sung upon the death
of one of the beizam boai. They are so closely connected with the cult of Malu that we have included them
in the section devoted thereto.
2 For the myth of the origin of this keber, see Folk-tales, p. 31.
3 The Western word kaikai (Vol. v. p. 251).
17—2
132 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
In his mouth Terer held a piece of wood (wagwag or lar irkep1) to which were affixed
two rings of green coco-nut leaf, about three inches in diameter, fastened together2.
Over his chest he wore green coco-nut leaves (su kupi), shredded and crossed over
each shoulder, back and front, after the style of the wagogob (cf. p. 157); they reached
to the knee, but were fastened at the waist by a belt of the same leaves (su wak).
He wore round his neck the same crescentic piece of pearl shell (mai) as is generally
worn at dances : but he did not wear the circular shell-ornament (dibidibi). His arms
were smeared with red paint and oil (mair id) ; he wore an arm-guard (kadik) and
in his left hand held a bow and arrows ; he carried a bunch of gba nuts in his
right hand and wore the usual plaited armlets (su put) and leglets (makamak) of the
dancing men (kab le) (pi. XXVII. fig. 2).
When Terer, thus dancing along and rattling his gba nuts, had reached the place
where the body lay, he continued his dance (kab eri), leaning his head from side to
side in a coquetting manner, bending now backwards now forwards, but always keeping
time to the rhythm of the drum-beats. At length, making very rapid jumps from one
foot to another and alighting at each jump on his toes (kewir or pap kerem), he ended
his dance. Terer was now supposed to have taken possession of the spirit (lamar) and
to be bearing it from the body to the island of Boigu. The women now showed
intense excitement (for only the old men were said to know that in reality Terer
was not a spirit); they cried and jumped off the ground with their arms high above
their heads, as Terer was making his way westward along the beach. Screaming and
wailing, all followed him. In her grief the mother or widow of the deceased cast
herself repeatedly prostrate on the sand, handfuls of which she threw in her face and
over her head with remarkable rapidity.
Terer was followed by Aukem, his mother, who was dressed in dried banana
leaves (gulab), with long tufts of grass hanging from her head over her face and
reaching to her shoulders3. She carried a lighted bundle of dry coco-nut fibre in her
mouth from which she emitted clouds of smoke. She walked after her son with the
unsteady, hobbling gait of an old woman, holding her two hands up to her mouth.
Now and again Terer would turn back derisively towards Aukem, posturing and
skipping as if intending to let his mother catch him, but he would dance away again,
going still farther west. If the body lay on the north-west side of the island (e.g. in
Komet or Peibre), Terer and Aukem would proceed thus as far as Umar. If the body
lay on the south-east or east side of the island, they went as far as Werbadu.
The people no longer followed them, but the drummers still continued to sing the
same song. Upon reaching Umar or Werbadu, Terer, followed by Aukem, dived into
the water, and while swimming westward from Umar to Gigred, they unloosed their
grass and leaf coverings (their " spiritual " attire) which floated away, presumably to
1 We cannot translate wagwag; lar irkep means "fish eyes," which are similar to those mentioned in
footnote 2, p. 16.
- According to another account Terer held in his mouth a piece of wood which carried a diamond-shaped
frame covered with white feathers. Probably there is here some confusion with the mask of the keber le (p. 141).
3 Aukem was thus dressed in a similar manner to pager (pi. V. fig. 1). She was always impersonated by
a man.
FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 133
Boigu1. They then returned in ordinary mundane dress and quietly rejoined the
assembly. Meanwhile the friends of the deceased had prepared a heap of green coco-
nuts, which they now proceeded to distribute among the company.
(iv) The Keber of the Zero, Markai*.
As soon as the Terer keber was over, usually about ten o'clock in the morning,
the zero, markai, who were impersonated by twenty or thirty men, preceded by pager,
entered upon the scene3. This keber was immediately followed by the removal of the
corpse to the paier or wooden frame where it was left to dry.
The drummers assembled on the shore near to where the body lay ; they began
to sing and to beat their drums. After a while, a .man emerged from the bush, about
400 metres away, covered from head to foot with dry grass and dead banana leaves ;
he was named pager. His head was bowed ; his hands, painted red, were clasped
together; his knuckles were held to his face, and his elbows were raised away from
the sides of his body. Having advanced one leg, he would bring the other stiffly
and rapidly up to it. Thus he came along the beach walking sideways and unsteadily,
and keeping a zigzag course near to the bush. His body and head moved jerkily
from side to side, his hands shook, and he wailed as he drew near4 (pi. V. fig. 1).
At length pager reached the drummers and the people, who thereupon presented
him with a basket of yams5. He then retired sideways, leaning now and again
heavily against a tree or knocking his head against it. Finally he disappeared into the
bush.
Pager was at first closely followed by the zera markai1*, but their slower step
soon allowed the former to increase his distance between him and them. The bodies
of the zera markai were blackened from the neck to the ankles, and the forehead
1 Umar and Werbadu are the most westerly points of the two sides of the island. Boigu was the
supposed home of the spirits of the dead.
2 Mr Bruce says, " this is the zera markai ceremony of the Western Islanders." Allusion is made to
the zarar markai of Mabuiag in Vol. v. p. 253 ; but no particulars were obtained.
3 The keber of the zera markai and those of tbe Tur iiriam, siwi, dumi ebe, etc., were witnessed by one
of us (C. S. M.), when they were performed in the course of celebrating Queen Victoria's birthday, May 24th,
1898. The accounts given in the following pages are mainly based upon that performance. Poii (27)
impersonated pager. The parts of zera markai were played by Sambo (9 A), Dela (13), Gabi (12 c), Boa (12 B),
Gadodo (14) and Kaige (6).
4 According to Mr Bruce, payer wore a mask of grass and dry banana leaves were wrapped all over his
body, giving him a very torn and dilapidated appearance. He walked along the beach like an old decrepit
man with a rolling gait. His hands were held up to his mouth with flexed fingers point to point, as if he
were carrying something between his hands. The women and children screamed with fear when they saw
him. This custom is still kept up. According to another account pager concealed his face with half a coco-nut
shell, the cavity of which contained a piece of smouldering coco-nut husk. From time to time he blew smoke
through the holes (eyes) of the shell.
5 Another version says that if any man met pager, he gave the latter a basket of yams and went home
quickly.
6 In pi. V. fig. 1 the zera markai can be seen in the distance. Pager was said to be looking for food
for the zera markai. " Zera markai all same piccaninny belong pager. Pager he old man, come along all
same plenty tired. He share out food along zera markai." According to another informant, he acted as a
comedian and relieved the tension and fear of the people caused by the other keber (cf. p. 144).
134 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TOERES STRAITS.
was also blackened. The lower part of the face and the feet were coloured a bright
red. A red band was painted just below the knees. Above the ankles were worn
palm leaf leglets about 5 cm. wide. From the shoulders over the front of the cbest
extended a triangular area of red paint, terminating at a point over the left hip and
continued as a narrow circular band behind the neck. A crescent of pearl shell or a
shell disk was worn from the neck. The head-dress was made of grass and carried long
projecting ribs of coco-nut palm leaf. A tail of grass was worn behind the back,
reaching below the level of the knees. Two bunches of the long ribs of the coco-nut
leaf were held in the hands.
Thus attired, the zero, markai emerged from the bush and advanced in single file
with zigzag course towards the spectators, amid the beating of the drums and the singing
of songs by the warup le (drummers). They walked on tip-toe with the feet turned
well out (pi. XV. fig. 1). After bringing one leg (the left) forward, they paused
and then planted the heel of the other foot (the right) to touch the toes of the
former. Then after a pause they advanced the other limb (the right), lifting the leg
high before the foot was placed on the ground as before. Their faces were turned
towards the sea, and their wrists crossed behind the back. As they came within
forty-five metres of the singers, they quickened their pace, and at about fifteen metres
distance halted and formed up in two lines, facing the spectators (pi. XV. fig. 2).
They now raised their arms above their heads, their hands carrying the long coco-nut
leaf ribs, and then brought them down, one arm in front the other behind, assuming
the familiar 'guard' position used in fencing. They then thrust to the right and left,
as if they were about to spear something. They repeated these movements several
times, throwing the weight of the body on to the advanced foot and raising slightly the
other. Then they retired into the bush and again emerged, repeating the same steps
and movements, but never approaching nearer than fifteen metres from the spectators.
Meanwhile the drummers had been singing the following words :
Wa ! wa ! wa ! wa ! wa ! wa ! wa !
Goki eza gau ' goki longa gau goki1
Nguki ezer ngau nguki launga ngau nguki
Water shell-vessel my water not my water
Wa! a! a! a! a! a! a! a!
Gaige gaige karapuna sewao ragade
? Kaiki 1 kaipun sewa ragadi
1 Along here ? to leeward there to rig a canoe
Wa! a! a! a! a! a! a! a!
Wa banita gasmuneba jai ana pagana koki aria pagana
banita gasamai ziai ari pagai kuki
break hold south rain pelt north-west
Wa ! a ! a! a ! a ! a ! a ! a !
1 The first line consists of the words as taken down, the second line is the presumed Western equivalent,
of which the last line is the translation.
FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 135
(v) The Keber of the Pop le op1.
This keber belonged to Er and Zaub. If a man died in either of these places,
the men would come from the other place to show their sorrow and wear the masks of
the pop le op (pi. XVIII. figs. 3, 4). The old women cried but were not afraid of the masks.
Five men stood in a line, each wearing the mask, carrying a dugong harpoon, and
decorated with leaves and feathers; on the left forearm was a gauntlet with ornaments,
and a bunch of watu hung from the belt in front and one of croton, with a plume
of cassowary feathers, behind. They walked slowly, alternately resting on one foot and
lifting the other high to a strongly flexed position with a trembling movement. Now
and again they looked back, resting the butt of the dugong harpoon on the ground.
They hit the ground with the left heel and shifted their hands one in front of the
other as if hauling a rope. Then they stood on their toes and moved their feet up
and down, stretched their arms to their full extent, the fore-fingers of both hands
being straight, as if harpooning a dugong. They now turned round slowly, the left
heel being against the right big toe, and looked on the ground. They very gradually
raised the fully extended right arm in a semicircle over the head — the index finger
at first pointing downwards, then upwards, and finally downwards. Finally the arms
were flexed and the head bent. This movement was said to indicate the rising and
setting of the sun and to be symbolic of the life and death of man.
(vi) Erection of the body on the paier.
The mourners now took the body and placed it upon the paier, a wooden frame-
work which stood on four wooden supports at a little distance from the house of the
deceased. There was much wailing and crying during the ceremony in which only the
immediate relations of the deceased took part. The faces and bodies of the young
relations of the deceased were wet with the blood which dropped from their cut ears,
for it was customary for boys and girls to have their ears cut on these occasions. (See
pages 154-156.)
When the relatives cut their hair at the paier, it was all gathered in one heap
on the ground, underneath the body, and left there.
After the body had been placed in position, the relatives took some large yams
(au sare lewer*) and, cutting them in pieces, placed them beside the body upon the
paier. They also hung large bunches of bananas, aumeraumer kaba, upon bamboos
around the paier. This food was called paier lewer, and remained there until it
decayed. It was looked on as nourishment for the ghost, lamar, who was supposed to
eat it at night-time.
When a father died and left young children, his personal effects were collected
and the widow divided them among the relatives, telling them to take care of them
1 This ceremony is undoubtedly connected with the legend of Pop and Kod (p. 19). The account was
obtained from Enoka (Er, 18 A). Pop was often pronounced Pop. This mask, which is 38 cm. high, was pre-
sented to the British Museum in 1855 by the Lords of the Admiralty. It was identified by Euoka and Arei
from a photograph as a pop le op.
2 Perhaps au sare should be usari, a white yam, cf. Vol. in. p. 58.
136 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
for her children until the latter were grown up ; she also made small presents of
things as mementos of the deceased. This division of effects was called teuane lu.
Some of the things were taken and broken up and finally burned at the paier.
When the corpse had been placed on the paier, two or more men, disguised in
leaves in the usual way to represent Magur (see the Bomai-Malu Cult), approached the
corpse at night and made a noise by hitting a piece of large bamboo with a stone
or by hitting or rubbing together rough clam shells. They also defaecated in ezer (Melo)
shells and scattered the ordure about. They went to the house where the women
mourners were wailing and kicked towards and shook their hands at the house. They
also made noises outside and banged on the walls and door of the house. Or they
took gba rattles and shook them slowly or scraped the walls of the house with them.
But they never said a word. The women were much frightened and thought the lamar,
ghost, of the deceased was visiting them. If a man or woman looked out of the house
to see what was going on, the Magur le would immediately kill that person. The
Magur le eventually went away, but no present of food was given to them.
(vii) Preparation of the Body for Mummification.
After two or three days, when the skin of the body had become loose, the paier was
taken far out to the reef in a small canoe which was shaped like a plank, and manned
by young friends, ami le, of the same sex as that of the deceased. The epidermis of
the body was then rubbed off (" strong skin he stop "), and by means of a sharp
shell, us, a small incision was made in the side of the abdomen (in the right side,
at least in the case of women), whence the viscera were extracted. The perineum
was incised in the males. The abdominal cavity was then filled up with pieces of
the nipa palm, meridu1. The viscera were thrown into the sea and the incision closed
by means of fine fish line. An arrow was used to remove the brain, partly by way
of the foramen magnum, and partly through a small slit which was made in the back
of the neck. The ' strong skin ' of the brain (the dura mater) was first cut and then
the ' soft skin ' was pulled out.
The body was brought back to the island and, supported by two of the ami le,
was placed in a sitting position upon • a stone. The other ami le painted the entire
body with a mixture of red earth and sea water. The head, body and limbs were
then lashed to the framework, paier, with string, ked lager, and a small stick was
affixed to the lower jaw to keep it from drooping. The framework with its burden
was fastened vertically to two posts set up in the rear of the house. It was protected
from public view by a screen of coco-nut leaves. Four ami le gently rubbed the body
down and made holes with the point of an arrow between the digits of the handg
and feet, so that the decomposing juices might escape. A fire was always kept alight
beneath the body. ' By 'n' by, meat swell up.'
The foregoing description was obtained by repeated inquiries from various informants; no
original observations could be made as the custom had completely died out. So far as we
are aware, the only detailed account of a mummy is that by Sir William Flower in the
1 This palm drifts to the island from New Guinea.
FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 137
Journ. Anth. Inst. vm. 1879, p. 389; the specimen (of which a photograph is given) was
obtained in Erub in 1872. Prof. Flower's observations agree very closely with the foregoing
account. The viscera were removed through an incision in the right flank, "and their place
was occupied by four pieces of very soft wood, roughly split from the interior of some
endogenous tree, each being from 12 to 15 inches long"; these were probably pieces of meidu
stem. "Except the wound in the flank, there was no other opening or injury to the skin —
The brain cannot have been removed, for the walls of the orbits and nasal chambers were
intact and it would not seem possible to extract it through the foramen magnum without
greater external damage than the body had sustained " ; nevertheless this had probably been
clone. " Both nostrils had been distended by some substance placed within them but now
removed"; probably they were plugged, as in the case of the mouth — The skin was everywhere
hard and tough, as if it had been subjected to some tanning process, and was covered with
a reddish pigment." All the hair had fallen out. • The only ornament was an ebeneop.
D'Albertis (New Guinea, i. p. 240) copied this photograph; he saw in Erub the mummy of
a man who had been dead over a year standing in the middle of the widow's house,
"attached to a kind of upright ladder of poles.... He wore his necklace, his wrists and legs
were adorned with rings of shells, and on his forehead was a plaited crown of the finest
grass, also brightly coloured. He was otherwise perfectly naked. They tint him from time to
time with red chalk [ochre], and keep his skin soft by anointing it with coco-nut oil."
In the Kgl. Museum fur Volkerkunde there are mummies of two children, photographs
of which (pi. XVIII. tigs. 1, 2) I have obtained through the courtesy of Prof. F. von Luschan.
The mummies were given to Dr Bastian by the Rev. James Chalmers in 1880, having been
obtained at Uga (Stephen's Island). No. vi. 4089 is a female infant, perhaps only a few days
old, about 48 cm. in length. The body is painted red all over, except the scalp and
eyebrows which are blackened. A fair amount of hair still remains on the scalp and the
upper eyelashes are long. Artificial eyes of nautilus nacre with black wax pupils are inserted
in the orbits, kirkub (nose stick) in nose 37 mm. long. Lobe of ear with a double pendant
of four red beads and red fringe ; the viscera are replaced with ? meidu pith. The hips and
legs are covered by a red figured calico petticoat, which is rolled up in the photograph.
The paier, 48 x 13 cm., consists of 2 longitudinal and 22 cross pieces underneath and one
other above by the feet ; the lashings are irregular ; the head is tied on by a broad red
calico band across the forehead and a narrow one with three plaited bands round the neck ;
other fastenings are at the shoulders, wrists, and below the knees.
No. vi. 4090 is about 95 cm. long and is a female child between two and three years
of age. The body was painted red, but the colour has almost entirely been rubbed off the
arms and legs, except where the latter have been protected by the blue calico wrapping (which
has been removed in the photograph) ; the scalp and eyebrows, and perhaps part of the
forehead, are blackened ; there is a red band across the forehead, the eyes are of nautilus
nacre with wax pupils ; the nasal septum is perforated ; there are holes in the margin of the
ears, in which are inserted short strings of red beads with red tassels at their ends ; around
the neck is a necklace of five strands of red, white and blue beads (2 red, 2 blue, 2 white, etc.);
around the ankles a red fringe surmounted by a strip of yellow leaf. The incision for
disembowelling is on the left side and has been sewn up. The paier, 92 x 32 cm., consists
of 2 longitudinal and 7 transverse sticks, the body is lashed on round the forehead, at the
shoulders, wrists, and below the knees. All the transverse bars are below the longitudinal
ones except an extra one at the feet. In Prof. Flower's specimen all the transverse bars
were above the two longitudinal, except an additional one beneath at each end.
H. Vol. VI. IS
138 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
In May, 1845, Jukes saw on an Erub woman's lap "the body of a child, a few months
old, and which seemed to have been dead some time. It was stretched out on a framework
of sticks, and smeared over with a thick red pigment, which dressing she was now renewing " ;
it had no appearance of decomposition (Voyage of the Fly, I. 1847, p. 246). Macgillivray
(Voyage of the Rattlesnake, n. 1852, p. 48) also refers to a mummy of a child in Erub.
Sketches of two Miriam mummies in the Brisbane Museum will be found on pi. 94 of
Edge-Partington and Heape's Ethnographical Album of the Pacific Islands. Third Series.
Of. also pi. II. fig. 4 in Brockett's Voyage to Torres Strait, Sydney, 1836.
During these observances, the ami le wrapped banana leaves around their hair
so that the odour of the corpse might not cling to it. They ate their food from the
end of a stick. The relatives and mourners remained at the house of the deceased,
budge emri, until the time arrived for the feast of
(viii) The Bud lewer.
This was held on about the tenth day after death, when the hands and feet of
the body had become partially dry. Taking a bamboo knife, a relative removed the
skin of the palms and soles together with the nails, and he cut out the tongue which
he put into a bamboo clamp so that it might be kept straight while drying. After
the feast these were presented to the widow who henceforth wore them (p. 157).
The feast was prepared by the mourners and friends, each of whom deposited his
contribution of bananas, yams and germinating coco-nuts (wai u), as he entered the
compound to join the assembled party. Part of the food was gathered into a heap
around a bamboo pole inserted in the ground ; the heap sometimes reached to a height
of five or six metres. This was the bud lewer. It was cooked either by roasting in
the fire, or by baking in an earth oven, bud ame lewer1, but never by boiling in
shells.
The rest of the food, together with other food provided by the relatives of the
deceased, was distributed to the company for them to take home, this being considered
as an equivalent return for their several contributions. Every woman visitor would
bring a basket with her which she placed on the ground in a Hue with the rest.
The men cut up bunches of bananas and yams and put them into these baskets.
They were taken away by the women when they returned.
At length came the eating of the bud lewer, which was placed on the ground
in the banana leaves wherein it had been cooked. The near relatives did not eat
with the friends of the deceased, but waited until the latter had finished, when they
received the order, it was scarcely an invitation, " Wa tabakeauare eruare, You come
and eat." The widow sat apart from the rest, crying and wailing.
It was on this occasion that the relatives and friends attired themselves in mourn-
ing dress (p. 156), and the koima marks were cut (p. 154). Finally the visitors
returned to their homes, leaving behind only the widow and the brothers or other
very near relatives of the deceased, and the ami le who attended to the preparation of
the body.
1 The ame was a shallow pit containing hot stones, into which the food was cast wrapped in banana
leaves, and then covered over with earth.
FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 139
(ix) The Keber of End lera Roairoai (dead man's likeness).
It was difficult to ascertain the exact time after death when this- took place.
As a rule probably from four to six months were allowed to elapse, and the mummi-
fication of the body had far advanced. But occasionally a much earlier date seemed
to have been fixed ; it was largely dependent upon the state of the fruit-crops, or, like
other feasts, upon certain contingencies.
When the time of the ceremony had been arranged, all the friends received notice
that they were to meet just before sundown at the house of the deceased. It was
then decided how many of the following keber should be solemnised and how many
relatives of the deceased should be represented in this particular keber end lera,
roairoai. The men who were selected to act as the ghosts of the dead were called
the keber le ; their number rarely exceeded four. About a dozen men were told off
to call forth these ghosts ; they were known as the mer aseret le (= speech-hearing
people), and their function was to inform the people of the presence of the ghosts
and to be their messengers. Thereupon the keber le attired themselves. Their costume
consisted only of a head-dress of leaves and the wagogob (shoulder-band) of green
coco-nut leaves. The mer aseret le were dressed in a girdle of leaves around the waist
and a wreath of the same on the head.
About eight o'clock in the evening, the drummers who, as usual, were all old
men, assembled close by the beach opposite to the body of the deceased. Between
them and the body the mer aseret le aligned themselves. The people were crowded
together on the beach. .No women were allowed to be near the mummy; their position
was at some distance to one side of it and close to the beach. The drummers sang
the keber songs, alter which one of the keber le went into the bush and blew his
shrill bamboo whistle, neabgir or burar. This was a sign of the near approach of
a ghost, and at once caused the greatest excitement, especially among the women.
Then the mer aseret le, standing in line and holding each other's hands, advanced
by side steps towards the body with strange movements, which were supposed to be
characteristic of ghosts, making a hollow sound with their feet. One of the keber
le who stood behind the framework was thus addressed by the nearest mer aseret le :
" W hose ghost is there ? " An answer was returned in a strident voice, " — — ra lamar
pedali, — —'& ghost is here." Thereupon the mer aseret le returned by side steps
towards the drummers as they came, treading heavily on the ground, so as to produce
the same hollow sound as before, which the crowd heard from the distance and attributed
to the movements of ghosts. The mer aseret le were but imperfectly visible, beneath
the shade. Their general appearance was said to be very uncanny in the dim light of
night-time. He who was nearest to the drummers now called out, " Markai - — a maliiba
taieneka sana zabusaka1." And directly they heard the name spoken, the women
i The following translation has been obtained by Mr Bruce from the Murray Islanders:
Markai a maluba taieneka sana zabusaka.
Spirit of - — • away at sea ? loved little
Tlie people are very uncertain, however, as to the correctness of this rendering. They say " these are only
18—2
140 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
jumped up holding their hands above their heads. They hurled themselves upon the
sand, handfuls of which they threw over their faces and heads, crying out all the time
in a sorrowful way. At the same time the drummers beat their drums quickly and
sang loudly to a weird air, until at length both the music and the wailing and
crying gradually ceased. The keber song was then recommenced and another spirit
was addressed as before by the mer aseret le. The same ceremonies were repeated
until they had called over the names • of all the ghosts (eud lera nei abger) who
would appear on the following day. The first name called was invariably that of the
individual whose body was upon the framework. When a woman's name was called,
a man represented her ghost.
This part of the ceremony being ended, one of the mer aseret le (the burar le1)
blew his whistle and called out to the people that all the keber would appear on the
following day2. Thereupon the keber le, the mer aseret le and the warup le (drummers)
approached the body and sat down upon mats, each mat being allocated to one of
the ghosts who had been called. These men remained there until nearly dawn, singing
the keber wed with drum accompaniment. All the others went to their home, for they
were forbidden to go near the body.
The next morning the men met beside the body in order to inspect those who
would later represent the various ghosts, and to observe whether they could properly
imitate the peculiarities of gait and figure which had characterised the individuals
when alive. Then the old men secretly repaired to their gardens and collected food
for the ghosts (the keber lewer). It was placed on the mats beside the body, each
mat being allotted to a ghost, the mat belonging to the ghost of the body being
nearest to the body. The preparation of this food was called lewer esegemer or " food
spread out." No woman or child might see it under pain of death.
About noon the drummers took up their position near the beach, facing the
crowd of spectators who had been awaiting them. After the keber wed had been sung
for a little while, one of the keber le came out from the bush on to the beach and
began to dance at a distance of about a hundred metres from the people. The singing
and drum-beating continued as the dancer came gradually nearer.
It it were a woman, kosker keber, who was being impersonated, the keber le danced
in imitation of her. " His " entire body was painted red. " He " wore a petticoat of
(?croton) leaves, plaited armlets, put, and the necklace of dogs' teeth, sesereg. A
mask of leaves covered " his " head, surmounted by a head-dress of cassowary feathers
into which feathers of the Torres Straits pigeon were inserted. In " his " hands lie
carried brooms of long pieces of young coco-nut palm leaf.
words: we don't know, but our fathers kuew." The language is that of the Western islands of the Torres
Straits, whence the whole ceremony was derived. The following would be the Western version: 3I(irl;ni a
malupa, to the sea, taianekai, will have to go, sena, that, za, thing, pwsakar, swollen.
1 The burar le did not allow himself to be seen except when he first blew his whistle ; he was then
seen by the mer aseret le to glide behind the paier. When he spoke behind the screen of the puier it was
always in as weird a tone as he could assume.
2 The time was always arranged so that there was low water (spring tides) ami a large expanse of beach,
so that the crowd might assemble at some little distance from the dancing of the keber le, and the real
personality of the latter remain strictly unknown.
FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 141
If the ghost belonged to a man, kimier keber, the keber le wore the usual dancing
dress, having in addition a head-dress made of leaves and surmounted by feathers of
the cassowary and pigeon, also a diamond-shaped ornament of bamboo held by his
teeth so that his features were completely hidden. His left hand held a bow, his
right an arrow1. He danced and threw himself into attitudes employed in the usual
dances, sometimes crouching, at others "marking time" or jumping up from one foot
to the other, and alighting on his toes, kewir or pap kerem.
As the keber le came nearer, he danced at a furious speed, lifting his feet with
rapid springs from tlie sand so that it was scattered about him. The women wailed,
and amid her tears the widow would exclaim, " That's my man," or a mother, " There's
my boy," as the gestures and movements of the keber le recalled those which had been
characteristic of the deceased. The drummers suddenly cried out, " Ah ! Ah ! Ai ! Ai ! "
and the women fell to the ground, the keber le making his escape into the bush.
Thereupon other keber le, each impersonating a different ghost, successively made their
appearance, two of them occasionally, however, advancing together. The songs and the
beating of the drums continued until all the keber le had gone through their performances.
Mr Bruce says that the delusion that the keber le is the ghost of a dead person
is aided by the ordinary dancing costume and the leafy head-dress and diamond-
shaped bamboo object which hide the face — the make-up is splendid, the mimicry is
excellent, and should the keber le somewhat resemble the figure of the man he is
impersonating, the delusion is almost perfect, more especially as it is assisted by the
implicit belief of the women and children that it really is the ghost of their deceased
relative.
When the first keber le had finished his dance, he and the drummers advanced
towards the framework where he repeated the dance. But the people were not allowed
to see this. They remained behind upon the beach and wailed, for the ghost was
supposed to be now leaving for its h'nal resting-place at Boigu, an island to the north-
west, near New Guinea2. When the dance before the dead body had ended, the
nearest male relative removed the head-dress keber op from the keber le and placed it
on the food which had been set apart for the ghost. WThen the time came for bringing
the body into the house, this head-dress was taken and kept along with it. The
head-dresses of the other keber le were similarly placed by near relatives upon the
heaps of food which were respectively destined for the ghosts of impersonated indi-
viduals. Afterwards this food was shared among the singers and drummers, the keber le
obtaining a small portion as a present.
(x) The Keber of the Baur Siriam.
This ceremony, which belonged to the K6met and Meaurem le, followed immediately
upon the preceding ceremony. The baur were large harpoons, wap, used in killing dugong
and turtle. Those employed in this ceremony were carved at each end with men's faces
1 According to another account, the arms and legs of the kimier keber le were painted red, and the
lower part of the trunk was hidden by a coco-nut leaf petticoat, the upper by frayed-out palm-leaves disposed
diagonally. He wore the gauntlet and a orescentic pearl-shell ornament on the breast. Internal. Arch. f.
Ktlumjr. 1891, pi. XIV. fig. 3.
2 Cf. the Keber of Terer and Aukem (pp. 128 and 132).
142 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
representing the people who had died1. Ropes (lager) were fastened to the ends of
the ivap, one of them being fastened high up to a tall orne tree. The wap was held
horizontally by several men who danced beside one another, each of whom helped in
supporting it with one of his hands. In their dance they advanced and retired together
and moved as if they were walking up the rope to the tree.
There seems to have been an initiation ceremony connected with this keber. The
novices were placed in front of the ropes, the assistants (tami le) behind.
(xi) The Wezivez Keber.
This keber was only performed for a male member of the K6met le. The keber
le went at dawn into the bush and prepared themselves, by completely covering their
heads and bodies with variegated croton leaves (wez). Small apertures were left for
the eyes. When all was ready the widow received notice to go to the place where the
ceremony was to be carried out. She was accompanied by all her female relatives. At
a signal from the drummers, these women lay down in a line upon their backs. Then
the keber le emerged from the bush, dancing to the music. The last of them
represented the man in whose honour the keber was given. The others represented
men who had died less recently, the first dancer representing the man who had been
longest dead, the rest following in due order.
The keber le, one following the other, first danced round the women and later
danced astride the women, keeping their feet between them. The widow of the
deceased lay at the more distant end of the line. Her excitement was natually intense
when the last of the keber le, whom she imagined to be the ghost of her lost
husband, came dancing astride of her, closely imitating his gait and figure. She sprang
from the ground to catch him, but he eluded her grasp and skipped off to the
bush. The women began to wail and cried out for the return of the deceased-.
We have no information of the galbol, maid, or Nagir siriam keber of the Zagareb le.
(xii) The Keber of the Tur Siriam.
This keber belonged to the Samsep le and was performed at Tur or at Areb3.
The Tur siriam le were attired in a black petticoat (tolop) and in grass down to the
middle of the thigh. They wore leglets of leaves around their knees and ankles. In
each hand, which was held beside the thigh, they carried a long wand of black wood
reaching about half a metre above the level of the head. Their face was hidden by a
1 They were originally brought from JIabuiag and were kept in a sacred hut at Korog. They were taken
to England by the Rev. S. MacFarlane, since when they have been lost sight of. The islanders still refer
with pride to the excellence of these lost carvings.
2 Mr Bruce adds, " The keber le are so cleverly made up that it ia really impossible to tell who is who.
You see nothing of the face, but the whites of the eyes flashing; as for the body recognition is impossible,
as they are so covered over with the wez, but they always try to get a man to impersonate the deceased
who as nearly as possible resembled him in gait and manner of dancing."
3 We were informed that this keber took place about a fortnight after death. Tur and Areb are quite near
one another. One informant pave Tur, the other Areb as the place where the Tur siriam keber was performed.
Areb may have been given because of its greater importance as a place. However, another siriam keber
(p. 143) was obtained, belonging to Areb and Warwe. There is good reason to suspect confusion here. The
Tur siriain kebrr was evidently the funeral ceremony of the Meket itriam le.
FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 143
wooden mask, which consisted of a narrow transverse bar, about half a metre long and
10 cm. broad, provided with lateral spines ; it was painted white and was held in the
teeth by a piece of wood attached to it. A white oval ornament, about 45 cm. wide,
was worn around the neck1.
According to another account, this mask was called tSrei or malo tSrei, and consisted
of a piece of soft wood (bet) of the dimensions given above,' along the edge of which
were inserted sir lub, feathers of the sir (the white reef-heron, Demiegretta sacra). According
to the same account, a tall plume of sir feathers was inserted at the middle of the
bet (pi. XXVII. figs. 3-5).
(xiii) The Siriam Keber of Areb and Warwe.
The Samsep le of the villages of Areb and Warwe appear to have had a common
siriam keber, which was thus described to us. Several keber le, painted red, advanced in
line, and were followed by numerous siriam keber le who were painted black. They
advanced in a straight line for a short distance, singing, " Weii, Weii, Weii," and beating
their drums (warup) very quickly. They next skipped in zigzag fashion from side to
side. Then they stood and beat the drums and jumped into the air, crying, " Weii, Weii,
Weii." Finally they all went home, took off their dresses, and held a feast.
(xiv) The Keber of Dogai.
At the close of the siriam keber, a man wearing an enormous mask approached from
the bush towards the drummers. This was Dogai2. He did not come down to the beach.
Dogai was always impersonated by a very tall man, but his height was much dwarfed by
the hugeness of the mask. This mask was made of the decayed bark of the coco-nut
palm, or, according to another account, of the husk, mes, of the coco-nut, and was hence
very light in weight. Mr Bruce writes that the face recalled " one of the large masks
one sees at pantomimes, a big, serious, stupid, comical face." The body of the man was
covered with banana leaves. Long black cassowary feathers fell from the head on to the
shoulders. He danced with his arms akimbo, and carried a long wand in his hand.
Upon the appearance of Dogai the drummers sang :
Dogai eras ia gur tamana sabisabi
Dogai high tide sea come
waiemana a taiemana ses-eba ses-eba
retire and advance
palemen kwik bage baye
separate head cheek cheek3.
1 This was the mask and dress used in the performance of the Tur siriam keber by Babelu (Mei, 13 A)
and Mamai (Warwe, 16), as witnessed by one of us (C. S. M.) during our stay in 1899 at the dance festival
in honour of Queen Victoria's birthday (cf. footnote, p. 133 n. 3). There should have been four men instead of
two. They walked abreast approaching the spectators in zigzag direction, the extent of the zigzag diminishing
as they came nearer. Their step consisted in bringing one foot up to the other before the latter was again
advanced. At times they leaped into the air, separating their legs while they were off the ground. There
was no singing. The performers repeatedly exclaimed, " Wo, wo, wo."
2 We have no information whether the Dogai episode was common to the whole island or limited to a
district; presumably it was associated with the Doguira wetpur (see Magic). The mask worn at these feasts
also had " big cheeks " (pi. XXII. fig. 7). See also the account of Dogai in the section on Religion.
3 This reduplication implies that the cheeks were a prominent feature and is equivalent to saying "big
cheeks" or "fat face."
144 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
At the words waiemana a taiemuna, Dogai advanced and retired with rolling gait.
The singers appeared to be scolding or dictating to him. Throughout his performance
Dogai caused great amusement.
The comic element which Dogai appeared to lend to the scene, was also present
in certain other dances which took place between the performance of the various keber
ceremonies already described. In these dances, the performers were always dressed to
represent an animal, bird or fish. They advanced from the west towards the people,
while those who were enacting the keber ceremonies always appeared from the east,
moving in the same direction as the spirit is supposed to fly — westwards1.
(xv) The Seber Keber of Er.
The keber le emerged from the bush on to the sand-beach of Er, dressed in vertically
arranged leaves of the stout akur grass which is usually employed for thatching. This
made a kind of frame round the men, producing a very curious effect. The men held in
their mouths a horizontal bar of light wood, covered with white feathers, and they carried
long wands in their hands.
They started their dance about four hundred yards from the drummers who were
grouped upon the beach. They came forward with short trotting steps, and when the
drums gave certain beats they sprang into the air, landing on the sand with their legs
wide apart. This keber was confined to the Geaurem le.
We have no information of the Paremar siriam of the Mergarem le.
(xvi) The Keber of the Siwi le.
Our knowledge of this keber is solely derived from the dance performed during the
festivities which were held in celebration of Queen Victoria's birthday during our visit.
A man, wearing the ordinary dancing dress supplemented by a long tail of grass, advanced
zigzag along the shore. Now and again he leaped into the air, and as he approached
the sea, he threw into it a piece of coco-nut which he drew out again by means of an
attached string. We understand that the siwi le were Eger men and that the siwi
keber was performed upon the death of any of them.
(xvii) The Keber of the Dumi ebe le.
Here again our sole acquaintance with this keber is based on representations given
in celebration of Queen Victoria's birthday, 1898.
Two men advanced sideways towards the drummers on the beach. They started
facing one another. But as they approached, one moved obliquely towards the sea, the
other obliquely towards the bush, so that after a time they changed places and stood
back to back. They turned about and began as before, crossing and thus once more
facing one another. The dumi ebe le are the people of the district of Kameri on Dauar.
1 It is probable that these were originally intended to represent spirits returning from Boigu in the form of
their animal totem. The Murray Islanders believe that birds are often incarnated by the spirits of the dead.
FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 145
(xviii) Funeral Ceremonies of the Main Zogo le and Keparem le.
Upon the death of one of the three zogo le or keparem le it appears that the
body was not taken out to sea (as described on p. 136) but was removed on the bier, or
paier, to one of the cleared spaces, deber uteb1, in the "bush." Here it rested until
decomposition had so far advanced that the head could be removed from the body.
It must be remembered, however, that these officials of the Bomai-Malu ceremonies would
usually have been old men and that it was not the custom to mummify the bodies of
the aged (p. 127).
The following were the deber uteb or cleared spaces in the bush, and the villages
and groups to which they severally belonged: Miar, Las = Piaderem fe2; Zer, Areb and
Warwe = Samsep le; Bak, Mergar and Terker=Mergarem le; these belonged to the Beizam
boai. The following belonged to the Zagareb le : Kabur, Ulag = Zagareb le ; Kisar,
Babud = Meaurem -le ; Namsiki, Eger and Er = Geaurem le; Maur, Werbadu = Mergarem
le (cf. Map, p. 170).
On the death of one of the three zogo le, or keparem le, the sides of the
head and the body of the deceased were painted with a mixture of red earth and oil
and were covered with the white feathers of the Torres Straits pigeon. A small band
of cassowary feathers (wer sam) was fixed about the brow, the arm guard (kadik) carrying
croton leaves was placed at the elbow, and otherwise the same accoutrements were worn
as in the performance of the Malu ceremony at Las. Beside a keparem le was laid
his staff.
The Zagareb le and Beizam boai assembled in the cleared space around the dead body.
The Zagareb le brought the two sacred drums, and all seated themselves on the ground
with their legs crossed, save one who stood at the head of the corpse. The Zagareb le
formed a circle surrounding the corpse ; outside them the Beizam boai formed a second
circle, and beyond these and at a greater distance off the women and young people
formed a third circle ; the latter kept very quiet and did not talk. The ceremonial
star-shaped stone-headed clubs, which were decorated with white feathers, were inserted,
head uppermost, into the ground beside the body (pi. XXVIII. fig. 1).
The songs which were thereupon sung were of a sacred character and referred to
the Malu cult. Women and children might only hear them at a distance. Certain
sacred words, zogo mer, were whispered at the end of every song3. Those who had not
drums accompanied the music by swaying their arms in the following manner. The two
hands were clasped together and raised to the level of the shoulder. They were brought
down at each drum-beat and were then raised to the level of the opposite shoulder,
ready for a similar movement at the next drum-beat. The head and the trunk were
always inclined towards the side opposite to that to which the arms were being raised.
Like the drum-beats these various movements were irregular and jerky at the beginning
1 We have a note to the effect that the au nei of these cleared spaces in the bush is deber uteb (1 " good
place"), while paretkak uteb, "uncleared space," is the kebi nei.
2 Arei (Zaub 2) and Pasi (Giar pit 27) would thus both be taken to Miar.
3 The words and the airs of these funeral songs are given on p. 151.
H. Vol. VI. 19
146 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
of the songs ; but when the words weii, or emarer, were reached they at once became
uniform and rhythmical.
The following description of the funeral of lu (27), one of the zogo le, was given
by his son Pasi.
When lu died, a fire-signal was made on Dauar where he lived and his tami le
(or keparem le) on Mer recognised the signal. A number of Miriam men went to Gelam
pit to meet the corpse which was being brought across. The Miriam men took their
bows and arrows, and this frightened the Dauar men. Every one cried as they put the
body on the paier at Werbadu. After being there for two days, it was taken into
the bush at Miar (one of the deber uteb) where Gadodo (14) had a house. As lu was
one of the zogo le, he was painted red and decorated all over with white pigeon's
feathers, a kadik (pi. XVII. fig. 2) was placed on his left arm and he was in all respects
dressed as a zogo le. This was done at night-time and by day-break all was finished.
Then they went to Gazir (the sacred home of the Main rites) and they took lu's
body and the paier on which it lay, into the bush. A cousin of' lu's was told to
stay beside it for ten days. A brother and a cousin of the deceased had taken off
the epidermis and had afterwards decked the corpse with paint and feathers. Eske,
the father of Gadodo, kept the body in the bush until the head fell off. Then he
made the skull into a lamar marik (see Divination) and put feathers on the face because
lu belonged to Malu. Indeed all Beizam boai had this done to their skulls. It was
Eske and not the widow who kept the head, because lu belonged to Malu.
(xix) Marking with Keg War up.
About noon on the day after the end lera roairoai, this ceremony took place. The
relatives of the deceased took no part in it. The keg warup le were all nog le (unrelated
people from outside). They wore the usual dancing dress. But in addition they wore
(i) the shoulder-bands of shredded coco-nut leaf called wagogob (cf. p. 157), (ii) a narrow
petticoat, nesur, of the same material, (iii) a head-dress of leaves bound round the brow
with a young coco-nut leaf, and (iv) a bunch of croton leaves inserted in the petticoat
behind. In their right hand they held an arrow but no bow ; in their left a bunch
of leaves. Some carried in both hands bunches of leaves or merely one long sprig of
the wild ginger plant ; but they made a pretence of having the arrow throughout the
ceremony. The male spectators grouped themselves near the dead body, and the women
were placed where they could only hear but not see what was going on. The drummers,
seated on a mat opposite the body, began beating their drums in slow time, only
occasionally breaking into a quick rhythm. After about five minutes they started
their song.
Thereupon one of the keg warup le, poured into a broken coco-nut shell a mixture
of charred coco-nut husk (keg) and water. Followed by the other keg warup le, he
hurried towards the scattered groups of women and ran in and out among them. He
then began to mark them on the shoulder with the mixture from his coco-nut shell.
This mark was called keg warup, and was applied only to those women who were not
related to the deceased (cf. p. 127). Always afraid of anything connected with the keber
FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 147
ceremonies, the women cried out; they appeared to resent being marked. Then the
keg warup le returned to where the men were sitting and painted them similarly. The
men formed a more compact group than the women, so that there was here less danger
of the relatives of the deceased being painted in mistake. The keg warup le always
made a pretence (bes atamelam) of marking the relatives.
When the marking was over, the keg warup le formed in a ring round the
drummers and danced the kab eri. They finished in the quick time of the kewir, rapidly
lifting their feet, springing into the air, and alighting on their toes. Finally at a signal
from the drummers, who began to beat their drums lightly, the leader of the keg warup
le rushed down to the beach and plunged his arrow (kep) into the sand. He was
followed by the other keg warup le who threw their arrows similarly. All of them
then rushed at their utmost speed along the sand,, yelling at the top of their voices.
They raced back again for their arrows, returned to the drummers and encircling them
started their dance once more. The dance was fixed at a time when the tide was
far out, so that there was an ample stretch of sand for them to run upon. The leader
was always a specially good runner, and the men vied with each, other in appearing
to their best advantage before the public, who were moved to great excitement. The
dancing and running were continued until stopped through sheer exhaustion on the part
of the performers.
During the dance, the women had been preparing a meal. One of the male relatives
of the deceased now went to the women and informed them that the performers were
ready for it. The drummers' food consisted of coco-nuts, old (gebgeb u) and young
(pez u), which must be whole and unhusked, and of roasted bananas which were presented
in a basket. The male mourners first served the drummers, or warup le, also sometimes
called weserweser le (greedy men). The nuts were laid before them on their mat
and the basket of bananas was placed on top of them. Then the mourners brought
food to the keg warup le, whose meal was called gegur lewer. It consisted of the
kernels and pieces of old coco-nuts and whole roasted bananas, which were strung together
alternately on the midrib of a coco-nut leaf; the alternate white kernels and yellow
bananas had a very appetising appearance1. The strings of food, thus prepared by the
women, were suspended by the male mourners from the centre of a bow and arrow,
and strings of dogs' teeth were fastened about them.
After they had eaten the food, the keg warup le took the bow, arrow and dogs'
teeth necklaces, and put them beside the fence of the compound where the owner would
easily see them. Apparently the keg warup le were entitled to consider these articles
as a present given them along with the food, but instead of availing themselves of this
right they left them behind, " as it were by accident."
The mourners were supposed to be too sad to eat with the nog le (that is, those
who were not mourners) ; and therefore they ate apart.
When the meal was over the relatives and friends returned to their homes.
1 According to one account the women took a coco-nut leaf and, stripping off some of the pinnules, stuck
the food on to the adhering pinnules; these small pieces of food were called zogo lewer, or "sacred food."
19—2
148 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
(xx) Removal of the Body to the House.
This took place a few days later, the procedure being known as paier atkoper. The
body was affixed to a new framework (paier) of bamboo and was carried within the hut.
In former days the huts had a bee-hive shape and the paier was fastened to the centre
post (seseri) which supported the roof. The body thus stood erect within the house.
Its dried skin had been painted red. Pieces of pearl-shell of the nautilus had been
cemented into the orbits with beeswax, two round spots of black beeswax imitating the
pupils. The perforated margin of the ears (leb) were decked with shreds of the sago-palm
leaf (bisi warn) or with grey seeds (kus, Job's tears). A nautilus pearl-shell frontlet (idaid
matalager) was placed on the head, a crescentic pearl-shell ornament (mai) on the chest,
the genitals were covered with the ebeneaup, and leglets (makamak) were put about the
legs. Oil would possibly still be dripping from the joints of the limbs, to catch which
large shells (miskor) were placed beneath the body.
In the darkness of the old-fashioned huts the body looked like a living person.
In course of time it became almost completely mummified (le aud) and as light as
if it were made of paper. Swinging to and fro with every breath of wind, it turned
its gleaming eyes at each movement of the head.
If the skull were the only remaining part of the deceased (cf. p. 127) it was decorated
in the above fashion and suspended from the central post, or kept wrapped up in a ka
mat imported from New Guinea (fig. 11, p. 36). We have a note that sometimes the
skin was allowed to dry on the heads of young men1, but only old men had the
features modelled in wax (pi. XXVIII.).
The house was now surrounded by posts and ropes so as to keep the ghost (lamar)
of the deceased from finding his way in. The ghosts of the dead were thought only
to appear at night, and, being in the dark, they would knock themselves against the posts
and get entangled in the ropes, until at last giving up the attempt they would cease
to harass the widow or nearest relative, who had been watching the body for fear that
the head or some other part might be stolen2. The bamboo posts were placed irregularly,
about a metre and a half apart, around the hut. Each was about 130 cm. high above the
ground and into its upper end was inserted a shank of wood about 30. cm. long bearing
a terminal knob (atkoper kep) which was generally carved. Croton leaves were also
affixed to the upper end of each bamboo post. The posts were ornamented with red
paint, and one trumpet shell (maber) was placed on each knob and another on the ground
at the foot of each post. These decorations were called paier atkoperra taier. The
tangles of ropes uniting the posts were made of the coco-nut husk (ked). A feast was
held when the ceremony of paier atkoper had been completed.
1 When Macgillivray visited Erub "several human skulls were brought down for sale — some had the skin
quite perfect, the nose artificially restored in clay, mixed with a resinous substance, and the orbits occupied
by a diamond-shaped piece of mother of pearl, with a black central mark" (Voyage of the Rattlesnake, n. 48).
Macgillivray also states (p. 31) that the headless body was interred in a shallow grave with wooden posts at the
corners, which were painted red and decorated with shells, etc.
a Such thefts were of common occurrence aud are described on p. 149.
FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 149
(xxi) Final Disposal of the Body.
In course of time the body fell to pieces. A feast was then given only if the
deceased had been a male, and the head was removed and a wax model of it made
and given to the "brother" of the deceased. It was shown first to the male relatives
who wept and lamented over it, and then to the women who also cried. Yams and
other food were heaped up and all ate, the men who had made the waxen likeness
receiving a large share of the food. The body of the deceased was then removed to the
beach where it was placed on a platform raised upon the trunks of four coco-nut trees.
This was its final resting-place.
The head was in certain cases used for purposes of divination.
(xxii) Theft of the Keber.
After the paier had been taken inside the house, attempts were made, usually if
not invariably by enemies of the deceased, to get possession of some part of the corpse.
The proper keber to steal was the desiccated body or — if the body had not been
mummified (cf. p. 127) — the skull, and considerable strategy was often necessary to
capture it. But anything might serve as a keber, a pebble or a piece of wood from
the grave ; it might even be sufficient to cut a chip from a piece of wood marking
the place of burial, or break off a neighbouring twig or leaf.
A common method of theft was for the friends of the raiders to pay an evening
call at the house. While the hosts were thus engaged in conversation, two thieves
decamped with the body or skull, throwing a bundle of leaves among the relatives
of the deceased as they departed. No noise or disturbance ever occurred when the
keber was stolen, as the relatives knew that they would soon hear who had taken it
away. But they were nevertheless afraid of what might happen to the spirit of the
deceased in consequence. Moreover they regarded the theft as an insult to themselves.
Often the stealing of the keber arose from a quarrel between two men, one of whom,
perhaps, had called the other nole lu kak le (a "nothing man"). Thereupon the friends
of the man thus insulted arranged to steal the keber of a dead relative of the offender;
this relative might have died recently or long before.
After an interval which depended largely on the condition of the crops, certain
days were appointed for an interchange of presents of food. First of all, the group of
people to which the stealers of the keber belonged brought bunches of bananas to the
relatives and friends of the deceased. This food was called nelewer (probably = nei lewer,
"name food"). Each of the visitors wore a leaf as the symbol of their mission and
presented the food on the leaf to the opposite party. The day was spent in bringing
in and arranging the food. Towards evening the head man of the relatives of the
deceased took one of the bananas for himself and shared the rest among the other
relatives. The leaves were kept by the recipients of the food.
Next, in the course of a few days the latter started to prepare food as a present
in return. They strung bananas, two by two, on short pieces of bamboo, and gave these
150 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
sticks of food, called merpa, to the thieving party on their visit to the village of the
deceased. The return present was made as nearly as possible of the same size as the
original gift. A leaf was tied on to indicate for whom the food was intended.
The exchange of presents thus begun might continue for weeks, bows and arrows
and other objects being given as well as food. It usually ended with high words,
but eventually the stolen keber was returned. Now and again, owing to scarcity of
food, the distribution of merpa did not take place until a year or two after the theft.
Meanwhile the friends of the deceased remained in a state of great suspense, as they
were extremely anxious to have the stolen keber restored as soon as possible.
(xxiii) Funeral Songs.
Twelve songs connected with the funeral ceremonies are here published in the usual
notation. By the use of phonographic records a careful analysis of the tunes has been
made, in order to express in vibration-numbers the actual pitch of the sounds sung. These
and other results of more detailed study are reserved, however, for a special section on
the music of the Torres Straits islanders in Volume IV. The versions here presented
will suffice to convey to the European ear a fairly correct idea of the character of the
funeral songs.
Only three signs are introduced which are likely to be unfamiliar to readers of modern
music. Asterisks denote the drum-beats. The word "slur" occurring over two notes
signifies glissando or portamento, i.e. a very gradual and continuous change of pitch in passing
from one tone to the other, such as is obtainable by sliding the finger along the string
of a violin. The sign v indicates a breath pause.
The first four songs belonged to the Malu ceremonies and were of an extremely
sacred character. They were sung upon the death of the zogo le and keparem le (cf.
pp. 145, 146). The notation used in the first two songs is intended to represent a
descent by a series of (approximately) whole-tone intervals. The fourth song was uttered
in a very low voice, and was followed by yet more highly sacred words which were
quickly whispered so that no one might hear them save those who had been initiated
into the Malu mysteries. The meaning' of the words, used in these four and in other
songs connected with the Malu ceremonies, will be discussed in a later section of the
present volume, devoted to the Cult of Malu.
The remaining eight songs belonged to the keber ceremonies. Songs VI., vii., X. appear
to have been connected with the zera markai. Songs vin. and ix. with the Meket siriam,
a minor initiation ceremony. Song XI. is said to have belonged to the people of Sebeg.
Song xii. to the people of Areb. The words of several of the songs have not been
obtained. Those which we are able to publish are in a debased form of the language
of the western islands of the Torres Straits. Women or children might hear them. Their
meaning is extremely obscure : they are referred to in Volume IV.
FUNERAL CEREMONIES.
151
* * * * *
Wau aka o ade - - et maluet e padet a - au emarer emarer emarer emarer emarer
Yea why 0 holy one Main at the creek sways sways sways sways sways
eruarer emarer emarer emarer emarer emarer emarer emarer emarer.
sways sways sways sways sways sways sways sways sways.
II.
J=80
* * * ** " * * * *
Wau o we - hi - ba o lewerlewer a a-o meriba tamer -a o gu-la-bor-a tamer - a
Yea O pigeon's feather, 0 food our Malu's club made of banana leaves Malu's club
rail..
J=69
* ******** —
a-o wen wen wen wen wen wen wen wen wen wen wen wen.
alas alas alas alas alas alas alas alas alas alas alas alas.
III.
J=108
#1
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—
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V
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^
TT -
s
iba^—
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it*
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T-71
^f ^=F
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Yea
Izib ye
two drink
Izi
i ye two drink.
Slur
r\
^
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V
ji
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: g»'- p- f-
j* T-
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• 1
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U wau Izib
Yea [? in] Izib
e e dirker ewatur
he sinks it pulls him down.
152
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
IV.
£ 8 - au ib' abara-u lewer
Jaw his food
i - au ib' abara-u lewer S
jaw his food
V.
S - au kerim abara-u lewer 6.
head his food.
***** * * ****
U wa kodia - - ba wa wa kodiab - -a moia - ba daga-ta
Slur
A
3 ; i 3 1
»
lagia
»
ba
sigapai - a
'=92
* * * *
siga - si akamai - a
waier babamulai.
VI.
VII.
Slur
Waukubiutisa ei Ei kubi uti sa ei Ei baibaiita ei ei ei...
This song was followed by the following words, chanted monotonously : —
Were were tepe were waru gadga were sidar gadga were tepe were baua gadga were.
VIII.
Slur
meluba ei dudii ei dudi - i ei... ...o di.
FUNERAL CEREMONIES.
X.
153
J=120
-m=.p~WW=* •gT5r|Ep=p=ai=pz:
U i -M fr-— I ~i — r^=E
O dimer dimer di - me - er dimer di-me-er di-me-er di-me-er dimerdi-me-er.
Another verse was sung to these words : —
0 obarasa ganotaire dimer obarasa ganotaire.
XII.
J=96
0 dudiaba ? -
The missing words of this song are probably gebaridba mukeriaba tatarmauke.
3. MOURNING.
(i) Initial Observances.
When the time had come to remove the body to the paier and to prepare it for
mummification, the widow twisted up a petticoat of banana leaves, and passing it between
her legs, fixed it at her waistband. This was the first sign of widowhood and was called
nesur atparek.
At the paier the relations and friends helped one another to shave their hair. The
men cut the hair from their faces as well as from their head. They left a transverse ridge of
hair across the head in front of the plane of the two ears. This ridge, about 5 cm. (2 in.)
broad, was called kaisu or mus dari from its resemblance to the head-dress (dari) worn
at dances. The female relatives and friends left a similar ridge running from ear to ear
(i.e. a little more posteriorly than the former), or, if they preferred it, a small tuft of hair
at the vertex, called kuk from its fancied resemblance to a shell. The hair thus cut off
was collected in a single heap and was left underneath the corpse.
The ashes of the wood fire were then dusted over the head of the widow or widower and
over the heads of the relatives and friends. Their faces and bodies were smeared with a
mixture of greyish earth, bud1, and water. The widow was painted with bud by the wife
of her husband's brother (her neitawet). Whenever a widow or a mourner sat down a
mark was left (bud puipi) by the dry dust falling from the body.
1 Bud is a dark grey alluvial soil found generally after the north-west monsoon season upon the roots of
trees ; these, carried by the floods down the Fly Biver, mostly from Kiwai, float across to Murray Island.
H. Vol. VI. 20
154
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
(ii) Cutting the ears.
Youths who had lately been initiated into the Malu ceremonies, and girls who had
arrived at puberty, had the lobes of their ears cut (laip sak) upon the death of a near relative.
The operation was performed either at the paier, or while the body was " lying in state "
previous to its erection thereon. The blood from the ear was allowed to drop on the feet of
the corpse as a mark of pity (omarelam, " from pity") or of sorrow (okasosoklam) for the
deceased. The lobes of the boys' and girls' ears were cut by one of their male relatives
(laip sak tonar le), who used a bamboo-knife or pater. A branch of coral (weswes) was tied to
the pendant part to prevent it from curling or shrinking. The operation was attended
with great pain, to allay which the ears were well anointed with coco-nut oil and water
(sabid). The cut ear was afterwards tied up with fine twine made from the coco-nut fibre.
The young folk referred to the event with pride: "Kara laip sak baba lam," "my ears
were cut for father," and decorated them subsequently with seeds and grass at the dances.
More rarely the ears were cut for a very distant relative, if the operation were particularly
desired. The ears had been already pierced (degoli) at an earlier ceremony which was
wholly unconnected with death.
(iii) Koima marks.
On or before the day of the bud lewer feast, the young adults underwent a further
operation as a token of mourning for a parent or near relative, — the cutting of the koima.
The design chosen was drawn upon the skin in red paint (maier), and was then incised
by means of a small shell (kaip or us). Those who were expert in cutting the koima
were called koima tonar le. Women generally operated on
the girls, men on the youths. During the incisions the
young people were held down by their elders, as they
often took fright and tried to run away. Sometimes
they fainted under the ordeal. Several of the koima
patterns were especially painful to cut, particularly those
on the shoulder and breast. The cuts healed slowly, and
until the healing was complete the young inourners were
exempt from labour and wore their arms in a sling.
Subsequently they were always very proud (au le teir)
of their koima patterns, considering them to be marks of
great beauty, and painting them red or white at the dances
so as to display them effectively. Indeed, the breast koima
and sometimes the large shoulder koima might be cut
merely for purposes of decorations, not only as a sign of
mourning.
The blood flowing from the koima wounds cut on the
back and, according to some, from those cut on the breast, was allowed to drop over the
corpse, either while it was "lying in state" or when it had been raised onto the paier.
The first koima design (fig. 14) cut upon the young adults was of a simpler
character than those which were cut on subsequent occasions of mourning. According
FIG. 14.
Kebi neur a kebi maker-
emra Koima.
FUNERAL CEREMONIES.
155
to fancy, it was cut on the calf (teter merbd koima), on the outer side of the forearm
(tag merbd koima) or on the back above the level of the hips (kip sor koima). On
a girl's back it was cut above the level of the waist-belt. The two scrolls in the design
were called jot's mus1, the fringe about the triangle was called koimara pern, or koimara war*.
A few years later in the event of another death, this lesser koima (kebi makerem
a kebi neurra koima, "youth and small girls' koima") was succeeded by other larger
au koima which differed in form according to the sex of the mourner. The following
were some of the designs cut upon the young women.
When between seventeen and twenty years old, the young women were cut with
the large shoulder koima (au neurra tugar koima),
which extended down the arm, measuring about 14 centi-
metres in length and 9 centimetres in breadth (fig. 15). . If
they could tolerate the pain, the koima was cut on both
shoulders and arms, otherwise it was cut on one side
only. In the cutting of this koima, a piece of skin
was excised, so that a large wale might result. The
four scrolls of the pattern were called pis mus1. The
cross in the centre represented a star (neur koimara
wer). The fringe was called the koimara pern, as in
the smaller koima.
The large koima marks on the girls' breasts (au neurra
nano dub koima, "big girl's breast scar koima") were
of various designs. One- of them (fig. 16) was usually
cut at the age of sixteen or eighteen years. It consisted
of two upper scrolls incised upon the sternum at the level
of the upper margin of the breasts. From these scrolls
a fringed pattern diverged to cover the inner side of
the two breasts. This fringe, as in the two marks already
described, was spoken of as the fingers (nano dubara
pern). The inner markings were solely decorative (no teir). As the breasts grew larger and
pendulous, the koima increased in size also (a nano dub ekaseli). Cf. also pi. XXI. fig. 9.
Another breast koima represented the back-bone and side-bones of the ubar fish,
a kind of sole.
A centipede (isi) was a favourite design, cut either on each breast (nano isi) or on
the upper arm near the shoulder (tugar isi). This was only cut on women. The centipede
was represented crawling upwards (fig. 17). It was about 125 mm. in length. The islanders
distinguished A, the "teeth" (tereg); B, the "curling hair" (pis mus); C, the "head"
(kerem) ; D, the " feet " or " hands " (teter or tag) ; E, the " extensile body " (buber gem) ;
and F, the " tail teeth " (upi tereg), as they suppose the centipede to bite with its tail.
No reason could be discovered for the adoption of this design, further than that it was
effective and easy to draw.
1 Mr Bruce writes that pis mm was applied to any curling design, e.g. to the tendrils of a creeper, to the
fins on the belly of a fish that curl into scrolls, or to the antenme of an insect.
a These words mean "the fingers of Koima," according to Mr Bruce. Pern warwar is used for any design
on calico or for the printed letters of a book; the suckers of an octopus are also called pern.
20—2
Fio. 15. Au neurra tugar koima.
.', nat. size.
156
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
The koima on the face (neurra bag war or neurra tole dub) was cut only on young
women, or on newly married women if it had not been cut previously to their marriage,
which, however, was rarely the case. One form of it was lozenge-shaped (fig. 18), and
was generally cut on both sides of the face. The upper curve followed the line of the
cheek-bone about 25 mm. below the orbit, starting about 13 mm. from the nose. The front
curve descended as far as the nostril. The size of the pattern was approximately three
sq. cms. There was a star (wer) in the centre. The koima was called tole dub
because the cross markings of the scar (dub) resembled the feathers of a certain bird
(tble), perhaps a snipe.
Fio. 16. Au neurra nano dub koima.
FIG. 17. Isi koima neur.
I nat. size.
FIG. 18. Neurra tole dub.
Nat. size.
Two other simpler face koima will be described. One was a cut which started about
13 mm. from the nose and proceeded backwards along the cheek-bone, curving round the
latter and running forwards again to terminate about 13 mm. from the mouth. The
other extended from the centre of the ear to the most prominent point of the cheek-
bone when it curved downwards and backwards past the corner of the mouth, ending
at the angle of the jaw (or, according to another account, it passed forwards and down-
wards past the mouth to the chin).
Cuts in the body or limbs which were not definite designs were also made as a mark of
sorrow. Generally a man or woman would ask another of the same sex to perform this
office for them. One reason given to Dr Haddon for this practice was, "Man he dead,
he sore ; we sore too."
(iv) Full Mourning Dress.
During the entire bud lewer feast (page 138) the widow sat apart from the rest,
crying and wailing. No notice was taken of her until all had finished their food. Then
the eldest brother or nearest male relative took a shell (ezer) and mixed in it bud and
FUNERAL CEREMONIES.
157
water into a paste. He approached the widow and dipping his two forefingers1 into the
paste, drew them across her shoulders and across her upper arm on each of which he
painted two streaks. The widow bade him mark the other mourners in the same fashion.
This marking was called bud desaui or bud egremer, and was a signal for all the relatives and
friends to assume their mourning attire.
The neitawet, or wife of the brother-in-law of the deceased, now smeared fresh bud
over the widow's body, put wet ashes on her head, and
then clothed her.
Instead of the ordinary petticoat, the widow wore an ome
nesur, made of the inner bark of the fig tree, the front portion
was passed between the legs and tucked into the belt behind,
and the back portion was similarly fastened in front. The nagar
was tied round the neck. This consisted of a necklace with two
long fringes, about 23 cms. (9 in.) wide, usually made of the
leaves of the sago palm, bisi wain, which hung down in front
and behind as far as the knees. Over this was placed a broad
wagogob, made from the bark of the sem tree (Hibiscus) and
about 7'5 cms. (3 in.) wide, each band passed over one shoulder
and under the opposite armpit, they crossed in front and behind
and served to keep in their place the nagar and the other
objects suspended from necklets. The ends were tied under the
armpits and to these were attached tufts of the groin hair of
the deceased. The nagar was fastened round the waist by a
broad belt, wok. Fringes of sago leaves, about 15 cms. (6 in.)
long, were placed on the upper arms, just above the elbow and
on the legs immediately below the knees, tag put and teter put.
Similar fringes, about half as long, encircled the wrists and
ankles, tag mus and teter mus".
Round her neck the widow wore other necklets to which
were attached the band, mat lager, which went round her
husband's forehead, any ornaments he wore or particularly fancied,
his groin shell ; two pieces of stick covered with 6m warn which
were the measured length of his right arm and leg bone, tag
lid and teter lid (pi. XVIII. fig. 5) ; two similar pieces, which
represented the length of his middle finger and index finger
bones, eip ke and baur ke or baur pern; another, which repre-
sented the length of his nose, pit autare, "nose measure"; the
dried palms of his hands and his dried tongue ; a small bundle
of plaited coco-nut fibre, ked, which was particularly valued by the widow as her husband
had to handle it so much in making it. All these objects were worn in front over the
1 According to another account he used his index and middle fingers.
2 The nagar and fringes came as trade-products from New Guinea in the new canoes. In the event of
their having none, the Islanders substituted for bisi warn the bark of the ground-roots of the fig tree, ome,
or the leaves of the pandanus, abal. The bark for the ome nagar was twisted into numerous coarse strings
about 1-70 m. (42 in.) long, which hung before and behind from a cord round the neck. The two kinds of
nagar might be worn separately or together. In former times the fig tree was held in great value for this
purpose, and the nagar and put made from it were considered far superior to those made from the sago
palm, as their manufacture entailed very great labour on the women's part, although it was a labour of love.
FIG. 19. Back view of a widow in
mourning costume, and wearing
an ome nagar.
158
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
nagar. The following were worn behind : the arm and leg bands of the deceased and the
dried soles of his feet, teter paur (fig. 19). All the above were called maik koskerra bud taier1.
The male relatives (fig. 20) also wore the fringes on the arms and legs, the wagogob and
the nagar. The last, however, was shorter, reaching only to
the level of the navel in front and behind, it also might
be made of bisi warn or ome.
The female relatives wore the widow's dress, but their
wagogob was narrower. They did not tuck the petticoat
between the legs but cut pieces from it at the sides so
as to leave the sides of the thighs bare.
The male and female friends of the deceased wore
the same mourning as the male relatives, save that they
did not wear the wagogob. The women wore the short nagar
of the males.
Thus the widow was easily distinguishable from the
other mourners by her tucked-up petticoat, her broader
wagogob and her unshaven head. The widower, on the
other hand, was not distinguished in any way from other
male relatives.
At first the mourning dress gave the islanders a very
imposing appearance, but after a few weeks of wear this
was entirely lost. They were supposed not to wash the
bud off their face or body, but to keep on renewing it
until the period of mourning was ended. Meanwhile they
were not allowed to decorate themselves nor to take part
in dancing and feasting. All the relatives of the deceased
renewed the bud on their face and body and applied fresh
ashes to their head periodically. The widow left her hair
uncut during the period of her widowhood. In time she
had an enormous mop, bleached to a light yellow colour
by the ashes. She was not supposed to wash nor might
she decorate herself with red paint on festive occasions.
1 Mr Bruce has recently sent to the Museum a complete set of bud lu, "mourning things," the technique
of which is described in detail in Vol. iv. Amongst these is a necklace (pi. XVIII. fig. 5), nagar, to
which are suspended the following: (1) two objects, each of which consists of a piece of pandamis? leaf doubled
round a central stick and bound transversely round with string which is knotted in such a manner as to form
two spiral ridges or raised plaits. One spiral area is painted red and the other white. There is a tuft of
fibre at each end. Their length is about 8-5 cm., one represents the length of the nose of the deceased,
pit tonar, and the other is the length of his index finger. (2) Two similar objects, 26-5 cm. long, represent
the length of the arm bones, and two others, 33 cm. long, represent that of the leg bones; in these objects
a single plait runs down the whole length of the object, and the shorter specimens have a central double
tassel, while the longer have two. All the string is reddened except the plait which is white. (3) Some
ked (strips of coco-nut husk used for wrapping up bananas on the tree) which was one of the last things
handled by the deceased, it is tied up in a neat cylindrical bundle with a tuft at each end. Also
(4) his mat lager, put and makamak, and (5) wooden models of the palms and soles, as originals of these no
longer exist. A pit tonar, 95 mm. long, filled with shreddings of the deceased husband's clothing, instead of the
usual hair, and decorated with bead tassels, lamar kSrup or tarpor kfrup, is shown on pi. XXVII. fig. 6. It was
worn round the neck by the widow, together with a boar's tusk which the husband used as a scraper.
FIQ. 20. Male relative in mourning
costume and wearing a bisi mii/ur.
FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 159
Such decoration was considered a very serious offence and would cause her late husband's
relatives to inflict numerous ills upon her. She always wore the widow's dress, even when
she visited other islands. As one garb decayed, she replaced it by another.
(v) Destruction of Property as a Sign of Mourning.
If a man died who had no family, his widow handed over all his effects to his
male relations, who broke them up and burnt them ; even stone-headed clubs were
chipped into small pieces and thrown into the fire at the paier. If an only son died
all his goods, and his father's also, were broken up and destroyed in the same manner;
sometimes the parents collected them all inside the house and burned it down with
the contents. Then they would ask their friends to go and destroy the food in their
gardens, yams were dug out of the ground and chopped up, all growing food was
destroyed, and everything that came in their way was cut down. This was considered
proper mourning. The father and mother would keep calling out that, as they had
no child, no more gardening would be done, for it was of no use, as there was now
no one to eat the food. Such was their frenzy that nobody dreamt of staying his
hand, but all tried to see who could destroy the most whilst the excitement was
rife (cf. p. 136).
(vi) Food during Mourning.
The principal kinds of food used in the feasts were old, young and germinating coco-
nuts, yams, especially the variety called usari, and bananas which had been wrapped up
while hanging on the tree, a process which greatly improves the flavour. The renown of
a funeral feast depended on the abundance of these bananas ; although any kind of food
might be eaten.
(vii) Drinking the Juices of the Dead, etc.
It was formerly the custom for men to drink the juices which exuded from the
mummifying corpse. This " grease belong dead men " would be also mixed with the
food and eaten. Men have been said to shut themselves in a house where they
have remained for weeks, "wild" from the effects of the juices of a corpse, which they
had eaten with their yams. The juices of dead women were never drunk or eaten.
Mr Bruce writes that the islanders now deny ever having drunk this oil; but "Ulai and
others certainly told me they did drink it, and Ulai used to tell me with great gusto
the different parts of a human body he preferred to eat. As they will not admit it, it
is impossible to obtain further details."
About 1883 a bamboo tube containing human juice was brought from Dauar to Mer,
and was distributed among several islanders who swallowed the juice.
(viii) End of Mourning.
When the relatives had decided that the time was come to discard their mourning,
they appointed a day for a feast, the mer aker lewer. This was usually held in the
afternoon and at the house of the deceased. A plentiful supply of food, or the approach of a
great feast (wetpur) connected with their religious ceremonies (zogo) in which the mourners
160 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
wished to take part, was likely to curtail the period of mourning. On the other hand,
it would be prolonged through scarcity of food. Dancing was not indulged in during
the period of mourning.
The feast was provided by the eldest brother of the deceased, with the assistance
of his male relatives. At its close the widow asked her brother-in-law to order the
relatives to leave off mourning (bud adem). Whereupon they began to strip off the
wagoqob, put and nagar, they helped each other in cleaning the bud from their skin and
the ashes from their hair, and they cut and trimmed their hair. The men paid special
attention to their hair which was now long. They worked it into ringlets (ed) and
applied charred coco-nut mixed with oil (keg) to it. The women donned new petticoats
and decorated their faces with streaks of red paint according to their fancy. No particular
design was used; all did their utmost to appear as "flash" (au somai) as possible.
The wife, however, of the deceased retained her widow's garb. By now she had discarded
the skin of the palms and soles and the tongue of her lost husband, having thrown them
away or given them to the children to play with ; but she continued to wear the tucked
up apron and the other signs of widowhood at least for a few years longer. It is said
that some widows wore their "weeds" until their death, and that others discarded them
only when they re-married. But the widow's dress was not suitable for every-day work,
and in recent times, at least, was not usually worn for more than two or three years.
So long, however, as she remained single, she continued to wear the tucked-up petticoat,
though she had discarded every other sign of mourning, and as long as she remained
a widow she eschewed all the ornaments she had worn whilst her husband was alive.
The widower, even if he kept unmarried, did not long remain in mourning. Generally
he soon wanted to take part in some ceremony or dance, or to procure another wife,
so he discarded his mourning at the feast (mer aker l&wer) when the other relatives
discarded theirs.
4. MODERN CUSTOMS.
Hearing one day, during my former stay at Murray, that a woman had died, and
being grieved at the particular circumstances attending her death, I determined to pay
my visit of condolence. After dark I went to the village where she had lived, and found
her on the beach with her head towards the sea, and clothed in her best dress and
wearing her new hat, all her fancy calico being laid on the body. The husband was
sitting by the head, and close by were several men, women, and children laughing and
chattering over their evening meal. Then the brother came up and bent over the body,
wailing and sobbing.
Shortly afterwards a canoe was brought to convey the corpse to a more populous
village, so that they might have a good cry.
Then I saw one of the most impressive sights it has yet been my lot to witness.
It was a beautiful tropical moonlight night, the sand beach being illuminated with soft
whiteness by the moon, and countless stars glittered overhead. On one side the strand
was bordered by the gently lapping waves of the calm ocean, and on the other by a
grove of coco-nut palms, their grey stems, arising from a confused shadow of under-
growth, topped by sombre feathery crowns, a peaceful adjunct to a scene of sorrow, and
FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 161
the antithesis of the ghastly mockeries of the funeral plumes of the professional upholstery,
which have only lately been abolished in England. A small crowd of some twenty or
so of us were walking along the beach with the noiseless footfall of bare feet, keeping
abreast of the canoe which, with its sad freight, was poled along by the husband at one
end, and the brother at the other. As I saw the black silhouette of the canoe and its
crew against the moonlit sky and sea, silently gliding like a veritable shadow of death,
and heard the stillness of the air broken by the moanings of the bereaved ones, my
mind wandered back thousands of years, and called up ancient Egypt carrying its dead
in boats across the sacred Nile — there with pomp, ceremony, and imagery, here with
simplicity, poverty and stern realism.
At length we came to the village, the inclosure of which was covered with family
groups, mothers with babies surrounded by their families, and many a little one was
laid asleep upon the sand, well wrapped up to keep off the Hies.
The corpse was carried to a clear space, and again the gay trappings of life were
spread over the dead. An old woman, I believe the deceased's mother, came to the head, and
sitting down, bent over the body and commenced wailing. Then on all sides the cry
was taken up mainly by the groups of women who by this time had taken their places
round the dead. As one dropped out, another would join in, and so with varying accessions
in volume, occasionally dying away to all but silence, the mournful sound continued through
the night, rising and falling in weird manner, recalling to my memory the keening I
had heard in far-away Kerry eighteen months previously.
Then I left them. The dead one surrounded by a changing circle of weeping women ,
beyond, the family groups each illumined by its own flickering fire, babies asleep, children
playing, adults talking, young men laughing, and a little love-making taking place in
the background ; and above all the quiet, steady, bright face of the moon impassively
gazing, like Fate, on the vicissitudes of human life1.
The mourning dress is no longer used. The ears of the young people are no longer cut.
There is no one now living who bears the tugar or the nano koima. Instead, the islanders
wear a black band upon the arm in European fashion, and are very proud of the custom,
practising it even when they can claim only a distant relation to the deceased. Mourning
usually lasts about six months.
The dead are now interred in an enclosed cemetery. Instead of stealing the skull
or the body of the deceased, a sprig is plucked from some plant or shrub growing beside
the grave. The exchange of presents resulting from this degenerated theft of the keber
is extended so as to include calico, cloth, and diverse other objects. A poor family will
try to preserve appearances by showing the same objects repeatedly in different guise.
Everything of value is eventually exchanged, each side trying to outdo the other in the
number arid value of goods they can exhibit.
An interesting example of the way in which alterations creep in when the rigidity
of custom has been broken by modern influences is illustrated by an incident of which
Mr Bruce informed us after we had returned home. He says, "I have just returned
from Zaub, Harry's place, where there is a great muster of people dancing. The Murray
1 The foregoing account, except the last two paragraphs, has appeared in Head Hunters, Black, White, and
Brown, 1901, p. 83.
H. Vol. VI. 21
162 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
men went through one of Waiet's keber modified by Wanu (15 A), who had a dream
which suggested to him this adaptation. The performers represented spirits, laniar, and
wore large glasses over their eyes, which gave them a very peculiar appearance. A piece
of the flower stalk of a banana hung down from their mouths, which, being of a blood-
red colour, looked very much like a tongue. A fillet was tied round the forehead,
into which was inserted a white heron's feather over each temple. A broad red crescentic
band was painted from ear to ear crossing the tip of the nose. Both hands were
held vertically and each wrist was tied to one end of a piece of bamboo, about 61 cm.
(2 ft.) in length, from which depended a number of gba nuts which rattled with every
movement. The idea was, that these men represented the ghost, or spirit, of a body
that was still lying on a paier, and all the spirits were supposed to have decided to
go on a spree, as they heard men having a dance, kab. They said to each other,
" Where is the kab eri ? It is now night and dark, let us go and look on." This
was the motive plot of the dance as told to me by the composer. No playwright
on a successful first night could have met with a heartier reception than did Wanu,
and he went about during the performance with a stone-headed club in his hand, and
striking attitudes, beat his breast and called out, " Kaka nali! kaka nali! ail ail
waiai!" ("I'm here! I'm here!"; waiai is an exclamation of wonder and surprise); and
he defied the Dauar people to provide anything to excel his performance. They on
their part were wild, and accused him of filching the idea from Waiet's zogo of Ne,
which belongs to Dauar. I thought there was going to be trouble between them, but
all subsided when the performance was finished. The staging of the affair was very
effective. The drummers and chorus sang the opening overture, babana, and at the
same time there was made an extra illumination by means of coco-nut leaf torches.
All at once, at a signal from the drummers, the torch-bearers struck out their flaming
brands, and showers of sparks and crackers were flying in the dense darkness that ensued.
At this moment the spirits appeared in a body and began their dance in what, at
first sight, was a confused mass, but when the movements were watched a certain kind
of order was discernible.
"The Murray people were in a great state of excitement, and the Dauar folk grew
jealous and yelled their loudest when- they saw the drift of the performance. The
dancers kept on and paid not the slightest heed to all the uproar. The torches were
finally relit to show up the spirits.
"Immediately after the conclusion of this weird show the Dauar men gave their
performance, which was arranged by Pasi (27). This was a snake dance, tabu kab,
which, a short time before, he had seen performed by Muralug men on Horn Island."
5. MEMORIALS.
In a gully near the Mission house there was a large stone bird which represented a
Torres Strait Pigeon, daumer. This and other carved stones were said to be memorial
stones which a man would make so that if future generations should ask, "Who made
this ? " it would be said that " so and so made it." This memorial was made by Paipa,
" a long-time ago man."
IX. PROPERTY AND INHERITANCE.
BY THE LATE ANTHONY WILKIN.
QUEENSLAND law has not affected native land tenure which is upheld in the court
of the island. In a few instances it is not impossible that English ideas — especially
of inheritance — are making themselves felt. There is no common land, and each makes
his own garden on his own land at his own convenience.
INHERITANCE.
In most, if not all, cases the children or heirs of the deceased have been acquainted
with his intentions regarding them during his lifetime. The father usually went over
his gardens with his children, pointing out to each child the portions that are to be his
or hers.
" Suppose brother he stop, girl he no get 'im garden belong 'im " was the remark
of a native. Mr Bruce says " The eldest son gets the lion's share — girls get very little,
just enough for a marriage portion." Besides his share of the family land a son inherits
any property left to his mother during her life.
An only daughter inherits the property of both parents, but if her paternal uncle —
her father's eldest brother — is alive he acts as guardian both to her and to her mother,
on whom however the real responsibility rests.
On the death of a wife the husband must give back her portion to her relatives
— at least so soon as he contemplates remarriage. Ulai (11), for instance, should have
returned, firstly, the property of his wife Veet and, secondly, of his wife Kabur, but he
has not done so, and as he has a reputation for sorcery the real claimants do not
come forward. For this occupation in usufruct of their land he pays nothing.
If there is no family and no surviving relative the neighbours divide deceased's
land among themselves.
Women often own land specially given to them by their mothers. On their marriage
such land is handed over, to be equally divided, among their brothers.
" Formerly," says Mr Bruce, " a man could leave his land to any one he liked of
his family, or even alienate it, during his lifetime ; but even so the family were not
left without provision." Such cases only occurred when the father had many and
scattered gardens. Pasi of Dauar says that he was thus left sole heir to the property
of two old men — brothers — whom he had befriended, but he was involved in litigation
in spite of their well-known intentions towards himself (probably this is the property
mentioned in connection with the zogo le of the lag zogo).
21—2
164 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
If a father is very angry with his children he is competent to disinherit them.
Such action is very uncommon, is generally richly deserved, and is usually taken with
regard to an unnatural son.
If there are no children, the father's brothers and sisters divide the land
among themselves.
An adopted son, if there be no children, takes precedence over blood relations.
A child adopted out of his or her own family does not inherit land from the real
father (see account of the zogo le of the lag zogo).
The distribution of personal belongings has been referred to on p. 135, and the
destruction of property on pp. 136, 159.
WOMEN IN RELATION TO LAND.
The wife can scarcely be said to own land in an individual capacity. What is
hers is also the family's and what is the family's is hers — in usufruct.
The widow and her children are in an unenviable position1, especially if the latter
are young and incapable of attending to their own interests. The eldest brother of
the late father can take charge not only of the land and gardens, but of the house,
the personality of the occupants, and may even demand of the widow the bodies of
her children. That in former times he generally married his deceased brother's wife
there can be no doubt — so extravagant are the claims now put forward by him of
guardianship and supervision. In fact, says Mr Bruce, "he fills the father's place." See
also Wardship.
Unmarried daughters.
Girls have little land if they have many brothers, but it must be remembered
that their chances of marriage are much increased by the system of exchanging sisters.
A large family of girls would be a misfortune that is not allowed to occur. As we
have seen, women whether unmarried or married are in possession of land given them
by their mothers which they lose when they marry.
Marriage portions.
These are generally all the land a girl owns, unless she be an only or favourite
child. However at marriage friends often make presents of land and property of
different kinds. In 1897 a girl on getting married was given two house sites — one
by her brother — a garden by the same brother and a second garden by another friend.
This was done when the ceremony was over, so the wife shared her new possessions
1 A widow was a servant to her eldest brother-in-law, if he had a wife she had to assist her in bringing
food from the gardens, keeping the gardens clean, spearing fish and getting shell-fish on the reef at low
water, in cooking and other household work. If she was young she had a jealous wife to contend with, and
if old she would have a large share of work to do. If her brother-in-law was single and living with his
parents, the widow would reside with them, assisting in the work, until the time came for the relatives to
discard mourning, when she might marry, or be forced to go and live with her own friends, by the treatment
she might receive from her late husband's relatives, especially if she were not wanted as a wife by any of
them ; but if a brother (or a cousin on either the male or female side) of her husband's wanted her for a
wife she would probably be treated in a better manner to woo her into the family again. There is no evidence
that widows or other persons were ever immolated on men's graves.
PROPERTY AND INHERITANCE. 165
with her husband at once. Should there be no issue such presents (some of which
are previously paid for) revert to their donors or donors' families. Rich husbands often
return their wives' marriage portions.
WARDSHIP.
We have seen something of the position of the eldest brother-in-law and the widow.
Not only can the eldest surviving brother of the deceased claim the widow, children
and property, but even any acquaintance of the late head of the family, who is prepared
to swear that so the dead man willed it. Such self-appointed guardians are the source
of much trouble, especially when the boys grow up and demand their own, which they
usually do at about the age of seventeen. The guardian is supposed to apportion to
each child its share of land, but he often contrives by adopting them into his own
family to acquire their property. Out of it he distributes to them as little as he dare,
keeping the rest for his own heirs. Under ordinary circumstances — when the guardian
does not marry his sister-in-law or at least the widow and has not adopted the children
as his own— the marriage of the eldest confers upon him or her the headship of the
family. Thus the father's guardian is succeeded by the natural guardian — the eldest
son or the husband of the eldest daughter. The widow, if there are no children of
her marriage, never returns to her family but lives with her husband's brother (or
brothers); in this case the brother retains the property, giving only what he chooses
to the widow. Should the widow having no children marry out of the husband's
family, she forfeited all her husband's property. In the event of a widow remaining
single, but forced through bad treatment to return to her own family, she always has
her own portion of garden land from her father to fall back upon for her own support.
It is obvious that this system of wardship has a profound direct influence on the
tenure and distribution of land. Mr Hunt says, " In the event of the death of both
the parents the child would be adopted by the father's family" (Journ. Anth. Inst.
xxviil., p. 12).
TRANSFERENCE OF LAND.
Unlike the greater part of British New Guinea the Murray Islands are the scene
of exchanges, sales, leases and loans of land and house sites. Exchanges, however, are
confined to the working and produce of gardens belonging to two friends. No idea of
convenience has ever prompted an exchange of two gardens or two house-sites.
The sale, too, of such landed property is unusual and is probably due to European
or at least alien influences. Some land is bought more or less under compulsion by
Government and Mission, and the principle is admitted. Strangers are said, however,
to have been always permitted to buy land.
It is difficult to distinguish between leases and loans in Mer. Perhaps the loans
give rise to more disputes than the leases, but both are very fertile sources of trouble.
" Natives," says Mr Bruce, " lend each other land and most of their difficulties arise
from this custom." Especially was this true in former times, when every property
166 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
that adjoined the shore was bounded by the edge of the reef. The land was lent
and endless disputes ensued over turtle and fish and whatever else tempted the cupidity
of the lender.
The custom of lending their gardens to others is called kebe le tonar or gelar
tonar (taboo custom) or imeri. The owner of the land is called su le or so le, that
is, "the man who goes away"; the man who takes charge of the land is the kebe le,
and his assistants are called berer kebe le.
The appointment of a kebe le is made by voting. When a man makes a request
to be kebe le of some one— or rather of several people, for usually several gardens are
taken by one man — all the people interested would meet to talk it over and to determine
if he were a fit and proper person for the undertaking. Perhaps some one else would
make an offer. Each man present picks a midrib from a leaflet of a coco-nut leaf
and the headman of the land names a candidate and asks if the others are favourable,
and, if so, they stick the midribs into a piece of banana stem. The decision is made
by a majority of votes, and the successful candidate is informed that the land is his
for a year and no one will go near it, even secretly. The kebe le informs the su le when
the harvest is ready, and the food is collected and distributed.
Mr J. Bruce saw a distribution about 1895 ; it was a very large affair and nearly
half of the people on the island were implicated. The food was exhibited on a
Friday and Saturday ; the two Mamooses Arei and Pasi kept watch over the food all
day Sunday, and on Monday it was distributed, the su le getting the first share. No
trouble arose.
There is an idea that the gardens will produce more food by this custom than
by the ordinary method, and probably it is so, as the kebe le take a pride to do
their best in tending the borrowed gardens, even to the neglect of their own gardens.
This custom has been stopped by Finau, the Samoan teacher.
House-sites (metara uteb) were and are often lent. A sort of rent is, however,
paid, generally by the performance of certain repairs, or simply by the maintenance in
good order at his own expense as the tenant of property, which the owner could not
personally undertake. The terms were generally for the four or five years during which
a house was weather-proof. The house went to pieces, the old tenant went out, a new
house was built and a new tenant found, to keep it in order. Had this not been
done there was always a risk of neighbours trespassing upon little visited property.
No warning of eviction was necessary. In most cases the house was occupied by two
or three men, with or without families, who lived together in more or less harmony.
This kind of tenure was open to the. objection of uncertainty, and it certainly led to
bad feeling; it is no longer recognised in the court of the island.
At the same time as the house the land was often lent, but the tenant had to
pay a share of the produce to the owner. The first application for this kind of rent
is now generally met by a gift of calico.
A regular system of hiring a man for half the produce to look after a garden
has come into being — its origin being evidently due to above custom. In addition to this
rougli metayage, friends are specially paid for assistance in clearing gardens. Only very
old and tried associates plant coco-nuts and bananas on each other's land and share the
PROPERTY AND INHERITANCE. 167
fruit. This custom, too, may be said to constitute an exchange of rights, if not of
gardens; but it is attended by certain dangers.
DIVISION OF LAND AND BOUNDARIES.
Formerly every man's shore property extended over the reef1. How fruitful a source
of dispute this was in a fishing community it is easy to understand. At present things
are a little better. Each property is bounded by high-water mark. Even thus, any one
who catches turtle or tup on the reef is expected to pay a fine to the adjacent
landowner of a portion of his capture. Logs and other " flotsam and jetsam " are of
course the property of the owner of the foreshore.
A small reef patch between Mer and Dauar used to be the boundary between
the islands. The Giar le claimed all fish and turtle for the Dauar side, and the
Mamoose of Dauar cut up the latter, giving a fair portion of both to the catchers and
distributing the rest.
Every district had its landmark — a tree, or rock, or other natural feature. In the
interior boundaries between gardens are often marked by ridges of earth. 'There is
no common land on the island.
Nowadays fences are substituted for mounds and rocks. Even brothers often fence
off their shares of the old family garden with bamboo.
These precautions are rendered necessary by the conduct of the Murray Islanders
themselves. They are imbued with the idea that the land and the trees, or the crop on
it, must belong to the same person. Thus if a man has a banana garden next to a
yam patch, and can contrive to put a few banana cuttings among his neighbour's yams,
his property will in a short time be so much increased. On one occasion a party of
picnickers dropped certain pumpkin seeds on the foreshore which produced a plant and
fruit. A preposterous claim was made for the land on the ground that the pumpkin
grown from the claimants' seed gave them a right to the land it grew on. Even
fences are pulled up and replaced, in the absence of the owner, a few feet or yards,
according to circumstances, inside his ground.
Murray Islanders own land on Erub — probably in consequence of intermarriage —
and they resort thither to " make their gardens " at long intervals, and especially at
times when some temporary cause has rendered them unpopular at home.
Water holes are in theory the property of the finder, but in reality are
common to all.
1 I think there is what may be termed a spatial projection of the idea of proprietorship. As foreshore
rights of landed property extend not only over the adjacent reef but to the water over it — as in the case
of fish caught within the area — so the inhabitants of certain areas appear to have a pre-emptial right to
certain distant fishing stations which lie off their part of the coast. If this be so it would probably account
for the kt>met le bringing the traders in canoes for the Miriam, since their coast looks out towards New Guinea
whence canoes are imported. Just as we were on the point of leaving Mer we discovered that there was a
personal or family ownership in certain stars ; unfortunately we obtained this information too late to follow
it up. There was also a distinct idea of proprietorship in local legends, for a man never liked to tell the
story belonging to another man's place. A. c. H.
168 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
LIVE STOCK.
Dogs, pigs and fowls are private property. The pigs are probably native but the
dogs are more European in breed than Papuan. The pigs used to run wild and do con-
siderable damage to gardens. These were destroyed, as were also some goats introduced
by the white men, for the same reason. A few pigs occasionally get wild even now,
and it is a question to whom they would belong if shot, even though the former
ownership is well known.
Fowls were introduced from Australia via Erub, and are not therefore of native
origin.
NOTES.
The sense of property is very well developed. It is doubtful whether in New
Guinea any man can alienate land from his family in the way that has been countenanced
at Mer.
A few pawpaw trees round the old mission house are said to belong to natives,
while the ground belongs to the London Missionary Society. Even if this be true the
fruit is not claimed.
Fishing parties divided the catch between them.
The utmost care is taken in the numerous cases of adoption to keep the children
in ignorance of their real parentage. Sooner or later, however, the secret leaks out
in most instances, and the complications that ensue — especially with regard to land-
have to be dealt with by the court.
A whole village helps to dig a new well. This is the only instance of communal
labour.
Gardens and houses of Ulai of Sebeg(ll).
* = a house. f = a house in disrepair.
A Inherited from his father Masak.
Boged**, Wageb, Arped, Doped, Soreb, Gagai.
Sebeg*, Wagir, Newar, Ulag.
B From his first wife Weit of Warwe.
Eum — now uncultivated.
0 From his second wife Kabur of Boged.
or .thrc. Bauer f, Zomared*, Karbur, Bodmob, Zole.
This km, D From gisa of gebeg (n)
bad feeling, Zomar
C should have been surrendered to the wives' relatives, but Ulai liolds
pay a share
is now generally
A regular s
has come into bei
rough mdtayage, fi-
eld and tried assoc
X. SOCIAL ORGANISATION.
BY W. H. R. RIVERS.
THERE is much that is very difficult to understand about the social organisation
of the Miriam people. At the present time the most definite feature of the organisation
is the existence of a system of exogamy in which the village is the social unit, but
there also exist other groupings of the people which are probably of social significance,
though it is far from easy to understand how these different groupings are related to
one another.
It will be best to begin with a description of these groupings, which are four in
number ; firstly, a grouping in villages, of especial importance in connection with marriage ;
secondly, a grouping in districts ; thirdly, a dual division into two groups, called the
Beizam le and the Zagareb le ; and lastly, a grouping of people who are named after
certain animals. These may be considered in order.
Every man claims to belong to a certain village which is the village of his father,
either by descent or adoption. He does not necessarily live in this village nor must
he have been born in it, but wherever he may live, he always calls himself a man
of the village to which he belongs by birth or adoption. It has been seen (pp. 119 — 20)
that the marriage of a man is definitely regulated by means of the village to which
he belongs and by those of his mother and his father's mother. It seems that in
thinking about restrictions on marriage the Miriam have not so much in their minds
certain kin but certain villages ; a man will say " I may not marry this or that village."
At the present time there are about 22 villages in Mer which are regarded as
forming separate units for the purposes of the regulation of marriage. The exact number
is rendered uncertain owing to the existence of a distinction between big and little
villages. In distinguishing these villages the Miriam use the expressions au nei (big
name) and kebi nei (little name). Thus close to the village of Gigred there are two
smaller villages, Begegiz and Nerugab ; at the latter there is a house, while at the
former there is at present no house though there has probably been one in the past.
When Gigred was used as an au nei, it included all three villages, while Gigred,
Begegiz and Nerugab were kebi nei for the three constituent villages of the whole
group. Similarly B6ged as an au nei included the village of Aketir, and the family
of Malo (7) which lived at the latter place was at first said to belong to Aketir, and
it was only later that I found that for the purposes of marriage regulation, this was
regarded as a part of Boged. It is probable that some of the villages which have been
included in the genealogical tables as distinct villages are really only kebi nei', thus,
H. Vol. VI. 22
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SOCIAL ORGANISATION.
171
it is probable that Mad ought to be regarded as part of Sebeg, and there was some
question whether Keweid was not also part of the same village. Again it is probable
that Akup is really a kebi nei, forming part of Ulag. The fact that no marriages have
occurred between Keweid, Sebeg and Mad, nor between Akup and Ulag, is in favour
of the view that these five villages should only be regarded as two villages in the
sense of an nei. This distinction between au nei and kebi nei is one which we shall
meet again in connection with the social organisation. The terms have much the same
significance as genus and species, the group denoted by the au nei including those
denoted by the kebi nei.
For the island of Dauar our information about the villages is less definite, chiefly
because the people have now ceased to live on their own island, but here again there
appears to be a definite grouping into villages such as Kameri and Eipkes1, though it
is possible that these are the names of districts rather than of villages.
The second grouping found in the island of Mer is one into the districts which
are shown in the map on the opposite page. So far as we know, this division into
districts applies only to the periphery of the island, and the inner boundaries of the
districts cannot be defined, but this is of small consequence for all the houses and
villages are on the sea coast. There is some doubt about the exact limits of these
districts along the coast and also whether some may not be included in larger districts,
i.e. whether their names are not kebi nei. These districts may be considered in order,
beginning with the important district of Komet.
Komet extends from Zaub to Larte. There was some doubt as to its northern
limit, this being Korog or Aketir according to some, but, as there are now no houses
at either Korog or Larte, this uncertainty is not of much importance. There is also
some doubt about the character of Zaub at the other end. The people of this village
are known as the Oparem le, and it may be that this name is that of another district
of the island, but however this may have been in the past, it is clear that at the
present time Zaub is part of the district of Komet.
The next district going northwards is Meaurem, extending from Kop to some point
between Mek and Akup. There was some question whether this district is not really
part of Komet. According to Mr Bruce the inhabitants of K6met and Meaurem are
1 The situation of this place was not determined.
22—2
172 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
regarded as one people. One part of this district was distinguished from the rest as
Saisereb and its people as Saisereb le. This district, which receives its name from the
habit of eating raw fish ascribed to its inhabitants, extends from Kop to Babud (inclusive).
This name is also applied to the inhabitants of B6ged, a village of K6met, and it
would seem improbable that it denotes a district of any social importance. We shall
see later that in some respects there are important differences between K6met and
Meaurem, and the latter has therefore been put in the map as a separate district.
The district from Akup to Mei or from Wed to Mei is called Zagareb, a term
which is also applied to people belonging to other districts.
The next district is that of Samsep, extending from Dam to Warwe. This district
has two sub-divisions ; one called Piaderem extending from Dam to Wabkek, and the
other called Samsep including Areb and Warwe. Here Samsep is an au nei of which
Piaderem and Samsep are kebi nei. It may be noted, however, that in the Dogaira
wetpur ceremony each of these two districts has its own performance.
The next district is that of Geaurem, extending from Turpit to Er and including
only two villages. Then follows Mergarem or Magarem extending from Mergar to Werbadu.
The remainder of the coast is divided into two parts. The part from Baur to
Gigo is called Peibre or Dauer (not to be confused with Dauar) and the people are
in general known as Peibre le or Dauereb le, but the inhabitants of Gigo are distinguished
from the rest as Nog le, having come from Waraber, so that they are regarded as
foreigners and have no place in the more important institutions of the island.
The part extending from Nem to Neme a pit has no distinctive name. The part between
Nem and Deru was used by the Dauar people in the old time when there was a
taboo on their own island (see article on Taboos), and the rest of the coast from Deru
to Neme a pit is occupied by a small cliff, so that there is no room for houses.
It is noteworthy that the district between Wed and Akup, which is occupied by a
similar cliff, has possibly also to have no distinctive name.
The people inhabiting or belonging to each of these districts are known by the
name of the district, being called the K6met le, the Meaurem le, etc. It is not clear
that these districts have any social significance at the present time, though it is possible
that marriages between villages belonging to the same district are somewhat less
frequent than those between villages of different districts. Nevertheless everyone on
the island knows his district or division, and if asked to what place he belongs may
(with or without giving the name of his village) say that he is a Komet le or a
Piaderem le.
The other two groupings of the people are especially connected with the Bomai-
Malu cult, and it is doubtful what is their social significance, or indeed whether they
have any social significance at all apart from the Malu ceremonies. The members- of*
the Malu fraternity fall into two main classes, the Beizam boai and the Zagareb, and
all the inhabitants of Mer with the exception of the Nog le appear to have belonged,
or to have had the right to belong, to one or other of these classes.
The Beizam boai or the Beizam le, "shark brethren" or "shark men," were the
leading members of the fraternity, and all the Komet le and Samsep le, together with
the inhabitants of Mergar and Terker, were members of this class.
SOCIAL ORGANISATION. 173
The Zagareb were the singers and drum-beaters at the Malu ceremonies and
included the Meaurem le and other inhabitants of the northern end of the island, the
Geaurem le, and the people of Werbadu among the Mergarem le. They were also called
the Warup le, or drum-people, from one of their chief functions in connection with
the Malu cult.
The Dauereb le were described as Tebud or friends, and acted as assistants to both
Beizam le and Zagareb le in the ceremonies. They claimed to be both Beizam and
Zagareb, probably because they helped both classes in the ceremonies, providing them
with food. They laid especial claim to be Beizam, but this was probably because the
Beizam was the more important of the two divisions. The Nog le took no part in
the Malu ceremonies, so that they do not enter into this dual division of the islanders
into Beizam and Zagareb.
It will be noticed that in general the people of a given district belong to one
or other of the two Malu divisions, but in two cases it would seem that members of
one district belong to different divisions. The Mergarem le living at Mergar and Terker
are Beizam, while those living at Werbadu are Zagareb ; and similarly of the Komet
and Meaurem le, who seem in some ways to be regarded as one people, the former
are Beizam and the latter Zagareb. There is thus in these two cases a want of
correspondence between the Malu grouping and the grouping into districts.
The classes just considered belonged especially to the Bomai or initiation ceremonies
proper. In the Malu dances, on the other hand, men took part who were named
after certain animals and this forms the fourth kind of grouping of the Miriam to be
considered. The groups were : (i) the Omai le or dog men, who were either Beizam
boai living at Zaub, or Zagareb living at Mek and Er ; (ii) the Daumer le, or pigeon
men, who were all Beizam boai, living at Boged, Las and Areb ; (iii) the Geregere1 le
who were Beizam boai, living at Zaub and Areb. Some of the Dauar people were
called Wazwaz le, being named after a kind of shark, and they were associated with
the Beizam le.
In discussing the relations of these four groupings it will be most convenient to
begin with those which have just been described, and to take this opportunity of
discussing how far there is any evidence of the social system having been at one
time based on a totemic grouping. So far as we could learn, the dog people and
those who took their names from the two birds had no other function than that of
performing their respective dances in a ceremony at Las. There is no evidence of any
kind that they are derived from totem-clans of the Miriam. In the article on the
Bomai-Malu ceremonies it will be shown that in all probability this cult was introduced
from outside, and probably ultimately from New Guinea. The geregere bird does not
exist in the Murray Islands, but belongs to New Guinea, and it is probable that this
grouping has nothing to do with the social organisation of the Miriam, whatever may
have been its origin in the place from which the Bomai-Malu cult was derived.
If this position is accepted we have to put these groups entirely on one side in
discussing whether totemism has or has not existed among the Miriam.
1 For a description of the gereyere bird, see the account of the participants in the Bomai-Malu Ceremonies.
174 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
There is, however, one fact which should perhaps make us hesitate before we put
this body of evidence on one side in this summary fashion, and that is the definite
connection of the animal groups with certain villages. It is possible that this is merely
due to the fact that on the first performance of the Malu dances in Mer, the dances
of each kind were learnt by people of these villages, and that the performance of
these dances has been regarded as the right of the people of these villages ever since.
There is, however, another possibility which may be mentioned. The Malu tradition
distinctly states that the introducers of the cult left the island after teaching it to the
inhabitants, but if we disregard this tradition, it might be supposed that some of the
introducers of the cult remained on the island and settled in the villages of Zaub,
Boged, Mek, Las, Areb, and Er.
The general question whether totemism has existed among the Miriam will be
fully discussed by Dr Haddon elsewhere, and I content myself here with mentioning
some of the facts collected by him which bear especially on the nature of the social
organisation. Of the many varieties of magic possessed by the islanders, nearly every one
is connected with some group of the people and is not practised by the community
at large. Some are the especial property of the Beizam and Zagareb, and therefore
do not concern us here. Others belong especially to districts ; thus, the nauareb or
garden zogo belongs to the K6met; the nam (turtle) zogo belongs to both K6met and
Meaurem, but more particularly to the latter. Other kinds of magic seem to belong
to villages ; thus, the werer agem kerar tonar zogo, which has the power of making
people hungry and lean, was the especial possession of Umar; the birobiro, or yam,
zogo belonged to Sebeg ; the lag, or mosquito, zogo belonged to Zomared ; the meidu,
or sab, taboo on gardens was the especial privilege of Warwe ; and the wag, or wind,
zogo was located at Eger, together with the adjoining Turpit. In the last case there
is a definite geographical reason why the zogo should have its seat at Eger, for the
adjoining point of land, Turpit, would be directly exposed to the south-east trade, the
prevailing wind during the greater part of the year. It may be that there are other
similar geographical or economical motives for the connection of zogos with certain
villages or districts, and it is very difficult to see in this connection any evidence
that either villages or districts have ever been totemic clans.
Again, the Miriam regard certain animals as sacred, and believe that the dead
appear in the forms of these animals, but there is no definite evidence to show that
these animals were ever connected with the social organisation, though the facts that
all the neighbours of this people have a totemic organisation can leave little doubt
that their society was also at one time organised on this basis. One of the chief
interests of the social organisation of the Miriam is the complete disappearance of all
traces of a totemic system which it is almost certain must have once existed.
Just as the animal people of the Malu dances suggest the existence of. totemism,
so does the division of the people into Beizam le and Zagareb le suggest a dual
organisation of the kind which we found to have existed in the Western Tribe, and
still exists in Australia and probably in New Guinea. Here, if we are to be consistent,
the introduction of the Malu cult from outside must lead us to reject these classes
of the Malu fraternity as evidence that a dual organisation was an original feature of
SOCIAL ORGANISATION. 175
Miriam society. There are, however, some facts which suggest that the dual division
of the Malu fraternity may have fitted in with a previous dual organisation already
existing on the island. The Beizam le have the exclusive right to practise certain
forms of divination, while several forms of magic belong especially to the Zagareb.
The latter people alone possess the power of making rain and of drum-beating, and
they alone can set in action the form of malignant magic called kamer tonar and the
curative magic called kekuruk. The latter forms of magic may have been introduced
at the same time as the Malu cult, but it is extremely unlikely that this should
also have happened in the case of so essential a form of magic as rain-making and
the fact that the Zagareb alone practise this magical art suggests that they correspond
in some way with an ancient division of the people.
The analysis by Miss Kingston of the marriages recorded in the genealogies has
shown no evidence that the division into Beizam and Zagareb has had any influence
on marriage. Marriages between people belonging to either of the two divisions take
place quite as frequently as those between Beizam le and Zagareb le.
Apart from the two classes of the Malu cult there is little other evidence of a dual
organisation. There is a certain amount of rivalry between the two sides of the island,
but not more than might arise from purely geographical causes. There are traces of
a certain connection between villages of the two sides ; thus Zaub and Er are connected
by the legend of Pop and Kod (see p. 19) and by the joint keber of the pop le op
(see p. 135), and only at Sebeg and Areb were held the meket siriam initiation
ceremonies, though the villagers from Ulag to Er also participated. We have no
evidence of any similar connection between villages of the same side of the island.
The analysis of the marriage record again fails to reveal any evidence of a marriage
regulation that people of one side of the island should marry those of the opposite
side, but it must be remembered that, as in the Mabuiag-Badu community (see Vol. v.,
p. 235), the fact that marriage is prohibited with the families of both father and
mother must have destroyed any phratriac marriage arrangements which may at one
time have existed.
There remains to be considered the relation between the village grouping and the
districts into which the island of Mer is divided, and also the general question how
there has come into existence a territorial rather than a totemic system among
this people.
We have seen that there is no direct evidence that the social system has ever
been totemic, though the undoubted totemism of their neighbours can leave little doubt
that formerly their organisation had this basis. Leaving, however, this possible early
totemic origin on one side, it is probable that at one time the districts formed the
units of the social organisation, and that marriage, kinship and descent were regulated
on this basis, and that the present system in which the village is the social unit has
developed out of this district system. We have seen that there is some evidence that
the function of the districts in the regulation of marriage has not yet wholly disappeared,
and that marriages between the villages of some of the districts occur somewhat less
frequently than between villages of different districts.
That the districts were at one time of much greater importance than at present
176 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
is shown by a study of the funeral and other ceremonies. In the funeral ceremonies
there are certain rites the performance of which is confined to certain districts, the
wezwez keber to K6met, etc., the Tur siriam keber to Sarnsep, etc. (cf. p. 129). In the
dogaira wetpur, again, annual ceremonies connected with the food supply, a ceremony
is still performed for each district of the south-east side of the island from Zagareb
to Mergarem.
There can be little doubt that we have here surviving in ceremonial an old social
organisation which, though still remembered, has ceased to be the effective means by
which social order is preserved.
If the districts formed at one time the basis of the marriage system, it is not
difficult to see how the present village system arose. The districts are few in number;
calling the Dauer le and the Samsep le each one division, there would only be seven
groups of the people. At the present time a man is not allowed to marry into three
groups definitely, and possibly into two others if he should be an adopted child or
descended from an adopted child. If therefore the marriage restrictions were as extensive
at the time when by hypothesis the districts were the social units, the marriage
restrictions would limit the choice of a man to four or even possibly to two of
the groups.
In the case of the Mabuiag community it was suggested (Vol. V., p. 241) that the
extensive restrictions on marriage, and the wide application of the brother-sister or
" babat " relation, had brought the marriage system to the verge of impracticability, and
it is possible that among the Miriam they have led to a modification of the system
and to a change from district exogamy to one of village exogamy.
We should have to make the not unnatural assumption that the people of each
district had grouped themselves in villages, so that among the people of each district
there had grown up distinctions dependent on the village. When according to the
hypothesis the marriage system became unworkable, and the question arose whether
marriage within the district should be allowed, it would probably happen that inhabitants
of the same village would be known to be near kin, while those of different villages
might have no relationship traceable through the genealogies, and it would be natural
that there should grow up the regulation that if marriage within the district took
place, such a marriage must be between different villages of the district, and thus would
soon come about a new system in which the place of the district would be taken by
the village in the regulation of marriage.
Some light is thrown on the ambiguity of the village organisation by the fact
that the ad giz or sacred ancestors belonged to the villages and not to the districts.
Mr Bruce believes that these ad giz were prior to the Bomai cult, and if so, it
would seem probable that this latter cult reached the island after the social organisation
had become based on the village. There is other evidence of this, for the connection
of the omai le, daumer le and geregere le, undoubtedly introduced with the Bomai cult,
is also with the villages and not with the districts.
At the present time the social and marriage system of the Miriam is a territorial
system, and if the hypothesis as to its origin is correct, it was preceded by another
territorial system of a different kind. I am indebted to Dr Haddon for the following
SOCIAL ORGANISATION. 177
suggestion connecting the development of a territorial system with the isolation of the
people and with the high development of agriculture.
In a nomadic people or in one lightly attached to the soil some other co-ordinating
factor is necessary. Thus in many parts of Australia, while a territorial grouping exists
to some extent, the main socialising factor is the totemic system, and it is probable
that the same occurs in Murulug and in Kiwai, in both of which islands the people
are to a certain extent migratory in their habits. In the smaller western islands
cultivation of the soil became imperative, and it is probable that this was the chief
factor which led to greater permanence of residence, and as a consequence the totem
clans exhibit a tendency to restrict themselves to definite areas, and common prudence
determined that their dwellings should be in close proximity, for the purpose of mutual
aid in peace and war. In this way, probably, arose the totemic segregation in Mabuiag
to which attention was drawn in Vol. v., pp. 162 — 170. Probably a similar distribution
occurred in the other western islands, though little evidence can be adduced for it owing
to the disturbances produced by the advent of the white man. In Saibai it was found
(I.e., p. 174) that while all the inhabitants lived in one village, the houses of the
several totem-clans were grouped together.
It would seem as if this tendency had proceeded still further in Mer. The cultivation
of the soil was more developed in the Murray Islands than in the west, and the
greater isolation of the people rendered them much more free from attack than was
the case with the Western Islanders. In consequence the population could be more
scattered and there was an almost continuous line of villages along a considerable portion
of the seaboard, and these villages have become the units of the social organisation,
the people having probably passed through an intermediate stage in which the units
were certain districts of the island.
DESCENT.
At the present time descent is very definitely in the male line, and our data
provide us with no evidence of a previous condition of matrilineal descent, but it must
be remembered that our material from this point of view is very scanty. It seems
that even at the present day a man may go to live with his wife's family, but there
is no evidence that this is due to any reason other than convenience and we know
nothing of any other customs which may be associated with the practice.
It is quite clear that wherever a man may live, or wherever he may happen to
be born, he belongs to the village either of his real father or of his father by adoption.
ADOPTION.
In the articles on genealogies and the regulation of marriage reference has been
made to the great frequency of adoption. Its frequency is so great that many com-
plications are introduced into the working of the social regulations, and many disputes
arise in connection with property on account of the custom. Children may be adopted
before they are born, and for no special reason that could be discovered. A child
adopted in this way or in infancy is brought up entirely as a member of his adopted
H. Vol. VI. 23
178 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
family, and it was clear that in many cases he remained in ignorance of his real
parentage till adult life or even till his death (see p. 181).
Although the fact of his real parentage may be unknown to the adopted child
himself, it is not forgotten by the community at large, or at any rate by the elders
of the community, and it would seem clear that steps are taken to prevent marriage
or too intimate intercourse between an adopted son and his real sisters. Further, it
is clear that the fact of the real parentage is remembered for several generations, and
that the restriction on marriage may persist for several generations between families
descended from two men of the same parentage but of different villages through the
practice of adoption (see p. 120).
Mr Bruce states that an adopted child often returns to the village of his birth if
he discovers his real parentage on reaching manhood, especially if this occurs after the
death of his foster-parents1. He is welcomed by his own people because he usually
brings with him wealth in the form of land which he has inherited from his foster-
father. A man, however, who returns to his own people before the death of his foster-
father, will probably be disinherited and will have gained nothing by his period
of adoption.
LAW AND GOVERNMENT.
The method of government in the olden time was probably by the elders, who
followed traditional custom in coming to their decisions. According to Mr Hunt1 there
was hereditary chieftainship, the head chief and the inferior chiefs taking a leading part
in the administration of justice. Owing to an oversight this was not definitely inquired
into, but it is possible that Mr Hunt's account applies to the heads of the Malu fraternity,
who undoubtedly at one time played an active part in the government. In connection
with the Malu cult there was a disguised functionary termed Magur who was the
executive officer. All breaches of discipline, acts of sacrilege, or deeds that brought an
individual into disfavour with the Malu authorities, were punished by Magur. Since the
position of zogo le was passed on from father to son, the Malu fraternity came to be a
sort of hereditary government, whose authority no one would question (see account of
The Bomai-Malu Cult).
When the islands were taken over by the Queensland Government a definite court
of justice was set up which at the time of our visit consisted of the two mamooses,
Harry and Pasi, with Mr Bruce as assessor. Under them were five policemen — one sergeant
and four constables — all natives of the island. Both criminal and civil suits were brought
before this court, the latter being settled according to Miriam custom, tempered in
some cases by the modifying influence of Mr Bruce. In fact, the government of the
island was virtually to a large extent in the hands of Mr Bruce owing to the influence
which he possessed over the natives. This influence depended not so much on any
authority given to him by the Queensland Government as on the kindness and uprightness
which characterised all his dealings with the natives' and on the tact with which he
adjusted the customs of the island to the claims of justice.
1 For an instance see p. 181. - Loc. cit.
SOCIAL ORGANISATION. 179
About the time of our visit his position was peculiarly difficult owing to the setting
up by the Samoan teacher, Finau, of a court in opposition to the court appointed by
the Queensland Government. There existed in this little island a beautiful example of
a struggle between the civil and the ecclesiastical power, the church led by Finau
striving to have justice administered to its own members by a special court of self-
appointed magistrates. This court consisted of about 20 men who called themselves
mamooses, and included many of the men of the island who were powerful either as
sorcerers or for some other reason. Many cases of crime which should have come before
the proper court were not reported by the police, probably owing to fear of sorcery,
but were tried by this self-constituted court. Thus, a man who assaulted his wife by
holding her down and burning her face and arms with a piece of burning wood, because
she did not get him a light for his cigarette, was not reported. He was one of Finau's
court, by which he was tried and sentenced to dismissal from this position. Another
of the sham magistrates who reported an annoyance to the proper court was de-
nounced on the following Sunday in church and was then dismissed from his
position.
Soon after our departure, in 1898, Mr Douglas visited the island and held an
inquiry into the doings of the self-constituted authority, and, after admonishing the
people for their illegal behaviour in interfering with the administration of justice, he
gave the island a "constitution," setting up a new body consisting of five councillors,
four elected by the islanders and the fifth nominated by the Government Resident at
Thursday Island. The councillors were to take no part in the administration of justice
but were to act as advisers and as a consultative body to formulate new regulations
for the government of the island, which would not, however, come into force till they
had received the sanction and approval of the Government Resident at Thursday Island.
The island was divided into four districts. The first district, which included the south-
western part of the island and Dauar, was to return one member ; the second district
extended from Baur to Babud and was also to return one member ; and the rest of
the island was to return two members. The first election took place at the end of
the year and was by show of hands. It created much interest and all the seats were
contested. The only special incident took place in the third district, in which there
was a tie between Alo (18 B) and Papi (17 A); Alo then voted for Papi, and, as Papi
refused to record his vote, he was declared elected.
Mr Bruce tells us that the new body has worked well and is likely to continue to do
so if the people do not lose their interest as the novelty wears off. The most important
event in connection with the new body has been the dismissal of one of their number,
Papi, by Mr Douglas. Papi was accused of various offences, including an act of
indecency towards his daughter-in-law, and was tried in court. He was fined 30s.
or three weeks, and the question of his position as a councillor was then considered.
The other councillors wished to be rid of Papi and to elect a new councillor on the
following day, and a deputation from Papi's electorate made the same request, their
spokesman, Barsa, letting the cat out of the bag by the announcement that he was
to be Papi's successor. Mr Bruce had little doubt that the most had been made of
the charge against Papi, not owing to any ill-will towards him, but because the people
:>:}— 2
180 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
saw a chance of the excitement of a new election. He was obliged to damp their
ardour by telling them that a councillor could only be dismissed by Mr Douglas, and
Papi remained in office till Mr Douglas' next visit to the island, when it was decided
that his services could be dispensed with and a bye-election was held at which Barsa
was returned without opposition. Mr Bruce remarks that if the people had the right
of dismissing their councillors there would be continual trumped-up charges of a trivial
kind in order to get the coveted places.
CRIME.
The court in Murray Island is frequently occupied in hearing cases of a criminal
nature. One of the commonest offences is wife-beating, and several cases of this nature
were heard during our visit. Other offences which are dealt with by the court are
cases of assault, disturbance of the peace, slander, rape.
The natives are often anxious to bring instances of adultery or fornication before
the court to be dealt with as criminal offences, and in such cases Mr Bruce was
obliged to decide that they were not so according to Queensland law. It is possible
that it was the failure of the court to deal with such offences which acted as one
of the motives to lead Finau to set up his opposition court, for this court dealt
with these cases.
The two chief penalties are fines and labour on the road which runs round the
island. There is no prison, and when a man is sentenced to labour on the road he
continues to live in his own home. A man accused of any very severe offence is sent
to Thursday Island, and the chief deterrent to those who repeatedly assault their wives
is the fear of being sent to this island for trial and punishment.
CIVIL SUITS.
The court is frequently occupied with suits in connection with questions of property and
inheritance. The following examples, which I owe to Mr Bruce, are interesting as illustrations
of the working of some of the social regulations considered in this article.
One of the most interesting is the suit Tanu v. Kaini, which illustrates various points
connected with the practice of adoption. In this suit Tanu (18) claimed to be the owner of
a piece of land called Maip which had been occupied by Kaini, the widow of Olmek (4 D).
In order to show his right to the land Tanu had prevented Kaini from taking fruit from an
era tree on the land. The case was taken into court and the following evidence was given
by the parties and their witnesses.
Tanu said that he was the son of Wasalgi and that the land had belonged to Nau, the
elder brother of Wasalgi. When Nau died, the land should have belonged to Wasalgi, but
he did not take possession nor make any claim to it so far as he knew. Wasalgi had never
worked the land nor taken fruit from it. He knew that Olmek or JVleiti had been the adopted
son of Nau and that Nan had no true son of his own, therefore he thought the land belonged
to himself, Olmek not being Nau's true son and heir. On being asked why he had not claimed
the land before or taken food from it, he said that he thought it would make no difference
when he took the land, as it belonged to him and had belonged to his forefathers before him.
SOCIAL ORGANISATION. 181
Kaini gave evidence that when she married Olmek, Nau gave the land to Ohaek and
showed him all its boundaries, telling Olmek that it was his for ever and ever. Olmek
worked and planted the land till he died and no one had ever objected to his holding it.
Since the death of Olmek, she, Kaini, had worked the land with the assistance of her children,
and no one had objected to her taking food or fruit from the land till now. She knew that
Olmek was not the real son of Nau but had been adopted by him. He was the same as a
son and had always believed that Nau was his real father, and had inherited all the possessions
of Nau when Nau died.
Joe Brown (18 c) gave evidence on behalf of Tanu. He said that Olmek was the adopted
son of Nau, but thought that Tanu was the rightful owner of Maip, because his father was
the brother of Nau, so that he was descended from the real owners of the land. The witness
then explained fully the genealogy of Tanu's family, which agreed with that recorded in
Table 18. Olmek was born immediately after the marriage of Nau to Kuni, and was at once
adopted by Nau and taken to Er. Nau had one son and one daughter of his own but Olmek
was the eldest (narbet). Nau's own son, Obau, died when a few years old. The daughter Dadi
married Tapau and was now dead. Dadi was given her own share of the land when she married,
and when Nau died Olmek inherited all the remaining land and other property of Nau.
The witness confirmed the previous evidence that Wasalgi had never worked the land at Maip
nor taken fruit from it.
Alo (18 B), who gave evidence on behalf of Kaini, corroborated all the facts of the previous
witness but was of opinion that the land belonged to Olmek after the death of Nau because
he was exactly the same as a son, having been taken away from Sebeg immediately after his
birth. Olmek had always cleared and planted the land at Maip, and after his death Kaini
had done the same.
Enoka (ISA), another witness for Kaini, gave similar evidence. He stated that Wasalg
had never wished to take the land from Olmek. Wasalgi had called Olmek werem and
Olmek had called Wasalgi kebi baba or little father.
This closed the evidence, and the two mamooses gave judgment that Tanu had no title to
the land ; that Olmek was heir to Nau both in land and goods, as if he had been Nau's own
son ; that Nau could give the land to whomsoever he chose ; that Nau gave the land to Olmek,
and that it was now the property of Kaini and her children.
Although it does not appear to have been mentioned in the evidence in this case, there
had been unusual features in the course of the relations between Olmek and his adoptive
family. Olmek grew to manhood in the belief that Nau was his real father. After the
death of Nau, Olmek one day quarrelled with a Dauar man, and in the course of the quarrel
the Dauar man taunted Olmek with being only an adopted son (gobar werem). Olmek then
made inquiries, and when he found the taunt to be just, he was so angered that he burnt
down his house at Er and removed with his wife and family to Sebeg to live among his
own people.
Wasalgi went to him at Sebeg and prevailed on him to return to Er, telling him that
he was just the same as the true son of Nau and himself. Olmek consented to return and
lived at Er for several years, when he was persuaded by the missionaries to live at Sebeg because
it was nearer the church, and since his death his family have continued to live at Sebeg,
but they have never given up the land received from Nau, for it is all they have, the land
of Natiri (4 D), the real father of Olmek, having been inherited by Irabai and Nobo. Mr Bruce
states that he was surprised that Tanu did not put forward the plea that Olmek and his family
182 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
had deserted their place of adoption, but at the present time it seems to be so common for a
man of one village to live at some other village that it is probable the plea would not have
been of much avail.
A very similar dispute arose about the same time which was settled out of court owing to
the friendly intervention of Mr Bruce.
The starting point of this case was the adoption of Gibaz (26) in infancy by Kepenei of
Mek (10 A). Kepenei had two daughters but no son of his own, and when he died all his land
and goods were inherited by Gibaz, who was recognised as heir by all the relatives of Kepenei.
Gibaz married Auai and, after having three children, died shortly before our visit. Not long
after his death the land was claimed by Madsa (8 A) at the instigation of Harry, the
old mamoose.
Madsa was the grandson of Kepenei's sister (probably not an own sister but a daughter of
one of Gaidan's brothers). Madsa had been, however, adopted by Sisa (4 c) and at Sisa's death
had succeeded to his land and goods, having received nothing from his own father, Kopam, who
had left all his land to his two daughters. Madsa was related to Harry, the mamoose, who, in
spite of the judgment he had recently given in the case of Tanu v. Kaini, told Anai that her
lands properly belonged to Madsa, Gibaz having had no right to them. The Kdmet le twitted
Anai's children with being Dauar people (which they were by real descent though not by
adoptive descent) and with having no land on Mer. Matters were made so uncomfortable for
the widow that she went to her husband's own brother, Jimmy Rice, and Debe Wali, his If
(first cousin) asking to be taken under their protection. These men went to Mr Bruce for
advice, being prepared to take over the responsibility of providing for the children, as they did
not like to contest the case against the mamoose. After making full inquiries into the case
Mr Bruce found that it corresponded exactly with the case of Olmek. He sent for the mamoose
and pointed out to him that the land could not be taken away from Anai unless he could show
that Madsa had a more just right to it. Harry then explained the relationship of Madsa to
Kepenei, claiming that it made him the heir to the land. Mr Bruce, however, was able to point
out that there were others more nearly related to Kepenei who made no claim and this was
admitted by the mamoose, who promised that Anai and her children should no longer be
molested. If it had not been for Mr Bruce's influence there is no doubt that Anai would have
lost the land, to which she had an undoubted right by Miriam custom.
Another case, that of Aba v. Papi, is interesting in relation to the guardianship of the
children of a widow. Aba was the widow of Ununi (17 A), the younger brother of Papi.
Ununi was a teacher of the London Missionary Society in New Guinea, where he died. After
his death Aba obtained a passage for herself and her children as far as Darnley Island and was
fetched from there by Papi with whom she lived for some time at his village of Er. She got
on very badly, however, with Wagai, Papi's wife, and in consequence left Er to live with
Gadodo (14), to whom she was related (Gadodo's mother had belonged to Bbged, Aba's own
village). She left her children with Papi. A few days after our arrival in Mer. Aba. was
married to Dick Tui (13 A), a man much younger than herself, and went to live with him at
the village of Mas, where at this time Papi also happened to be living. The two women were
now near one another again and troubles arose, but more acutely this time owing to Aba's wish
that, now that she was married, her children should leave Papi and live with her. She also
wished to regain possession of certain goods she had left with Papi. The quarrelling became
so severe that the police had to interfere and Wagai was summoned for disturbing the peace.
SOCIAL ORGANISATION. 183
Wagai accused Aba of having had an illegitimate child before her marriage with Dick and
of having run about after men like a dog, and Aba brought a counter charge against Wagai
of having had a child by a man other than Papi. Wagai was found guilty of having created
a disturbance in the village of Mas and was fined five shillings.
Aba then brought a civil suit against Papi for the custody of her children and for the
recovery of certain goods in the possession of Papi. In her evidence Aba stated that when she
came to Mer, she lived with Papi for some time, and when she went to live with Gadodo she
left the following articles with Papi : two camphor-wood boxes, one tin basin, one clock, one
pillow, two saucepans, two knives and forks, one smoothing iron, one blanket, one bucket, two
spoons, three baskets, one plate, one grindstone, three mats, three woman's and two girl's
calicoes. She said that she had left the things in Papi's care as she had no house of her own;
that she had never given them to Papi or to anyone else, but had given to Zai, Papi's daughter-
in-law, the use of the smoothing iron till Maima, her eldest daughter, was grown up. She
claimed a garden named Werge which she had planted herself. Papi would not give her
possession of this land and would not allow her to go to it nor take food from it. Both she
and her husband wished the three children to live with them.
Papi, after giving an account of the events already recorded, said that when Aba left his
place she gave him some of her things as a present to him for ever, taking others with her to
Gadodo and left others in Papi's care. When Doboro, Papi's son, married, Aba gave as a
present to Doboro the things that had been left in Papi's care. In the presence of Alo, Aba
told Doboro and Zai that she wanted to give them all the things of her's in Papi's house and
that they were to keep them for ever. Doboro lived with the witness, but if he had gone to
live at a house of his own, he would have taken the articles with him.
Papi also claimed the goods as payment for bringing Aba and her children from Darnley
Island. He acknowledged that the garden at Werge had been planted by Aba, but as Aba was
now married to Dick, who had plenty of land of his own, he did not think she required it.
He acknowledged that the eldest daughter of Aba, Maima, would be entitled to the garden
when she grew up but thought that she was now too young to look after it. He said that the
children wanted to live with him, and that he was their father now that Ununi was dead. He
acknowledged that Dick and Aba were able to look after the children properly, but claimed that as
elder brother of the father he was entitled to their custody.
Aba was then re-examined and denied having given the things to Doboro and Zai. She
did not object to Papi's keeping the grindstone. She had intended to give the clock to Papi
but had never actually done so.
Alo then gave evidence. He remembered that when Doboro and Zai were married, he
heard Aba tell Papi, Doboro and Zai that she wanted them to take the things left in Papi's
house as a present from her. She did not speak of the boxes but mentioned all the other
things.
Doboro gave evidence that when he was married Aba told him that she wanted to make
him a present of all her things and that he was to keep them for ever and ever, as she would
never want them again.
Zai gave evidence to the same effect.
Tom corroborated Alo but thought that Aba had given the boxes as well as the
other things.
Aba was not able to produce any witnesses in support of her statements.
The marnooses then decided that Aba had not given the things to Papi ; that all the
184 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
witnesses for Papi were of one family and were helping Papi to keep the things in the
family. They decided that Papi might keep the grindstone and the clock as Aba was willing
he should have them ; also that Zai should have the use of the smoothing iron till Maima was
grown up.
They decided that the garden at Werge belonged to Aba and to her children after her
and that Aba was quite competent to look after it. Aba was entitled to the care of her
children. Papi was not to claim them, but if the children wished to live occasionally with
Papi, and Aba had no objection, they were at liberty to go to him.
Mr Bruce believed at the time that this decision was just. Neither of the nmmooses
were in any way interested in the case, and from what Mr Bruce heard later he was
convinced that justice had been done.
XI. TRADE.
BY A. C. HADDON.
So far as the general aspects of trade are concerned there is little to add to what was
said about the trade of the Western Islanders in Vol. v. p. 293. Owing to their more
remote situation, the Miriam were practically debarred from intercourse with Australia and
the inter-insular trade probably did not amount to very much, but, judging from the
specimens obtained in the island, there must have been at various times a fair trade with
New Guinea, and for this commerce there were two trade-routes. The one of greater
importance was the route for the purchase of canoes, which passed through Erub,
Parama, and Mibu to Kiwai island. The second route passed through Erub, Uga,
Damut, Tutu, and Ero {Daru ?), to Mawata or occasionally to Tureture. There was very
occasional intercourse with certain Western Islands through the intermediate small
islands.
The highest unit of value as among the Western Islanders is the canoe : its
equivalent value is a wauri or two or three strings of waraz. I did not hear that a
wife was equated to a canoe.
The exports consisted of shell ornaments, such as arm-rings, wauri, and disc-pendants,
dibidibi, both of which were made from the cone shell (Conus litteratis, var. mille-
punctatus), or the unworked shell itself, wauri', a necklace made of olive shells, waraz;
nose-sticks, kirkub, made from various shells ; crescentic chest ornaments, mai, made from
the pearl oyster ; and other less valuable shell ornaments. Turtle-shell (" tortoise-shell "),
kaisu, and food, but the latter was probably more of the nature of a present than of
trade.
The chief imports were ornaments made of cassowary feathers, sain (such as head-
dresses, sam, wer sum ; long plumes, tag lu, for the arm-guard, kadik ; and large plumes,
kolber kolber, worn in the belt behind) ; head-dresses of bird-of-paradise feathers, degem ;
dogs' teeth necklaces, omai tereg] boars' tusks (natural, gir, and artificially deformed,
sauad) ; fringes, bisi warn, and petticoats, bisi nesur, made from the shredded leaves of
the sago palm, sago, bisi ; mats made of strips of pandanus leaves fastened together, but
not plaited, ka moder ; canoes, nar ; probably most of the drums, warup and boroboro ;
stone-headed clubs, gabagaba ; and bows and arrows, sarifc. The sago was bought at
Parama, but if there was none to be obtained there they had to go on to Kiwai for it.
H. Vol. VI. 24
186 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
CANOE TRAFFIC.
According to Mr Bruce, the Komet le were the traders in canoes for the other
Miriam le, and when a new canoe was wanted the traders first went to Erub, where
they might merely give the order and hand over purchase gifts, and return home; or
they might proceed on their journey, possibly accompanied by some Erub le. From
Erub they went to Parem (Parama, or Bampton Island), thence to Mibu, and finally to
some village on Kiwai. I believe Murray Islanders rarely made the whole journey, but
sent on the payment to be transmitted by known intermediaries, eipu le ; but, certainly,
occasional reciprocal visits were paid between Mer and Kiwai.
The method of purchasing a canoe is much as follows: The man who wants a
canoe informs the K6met le and gives them a fine armlet, wauri, cut out of a large
cone shell. This is the recognised price of a canoe. In due course the voyage is made
and numerous presents of shell ornaments and food are added to the prime cost by the
friends of the purchaser, who enlists their aid : these are for the remuneration of the
various middle-men. Eventually the canoe is purchased for the wauri, but additional
presents are added to the original payment by the several intermediaries as it is con-
veyed to its destination. The canoe follows the same route as the shell armlet, but the
Kbmet le, and also the Erub le, if they assist, may keep the canoe for one year; the
usufruct being their commission on the undertaking.
During the year following the purchase, the canoe-vendor, amarik le, in Kiwai cuts
a bamboo pole about 3-6 m. (12 feet) in length, to which he affixes the presents he
wishes to send. These are principally kab lu, or dance things, such as feathers of the
cassowary, plumes of the bird-of-paradise, dogs' teeth necklaces, boars' tusks, fringes and
petticoats made from leaves of the sago palm, mats, bows and arrows, or other objects.
He sends the seker lu, as it is termed (seker means any erect, long, slender object, and
here it probably refers to the bamboo pole), to the Mibu or Parem intermediary, who
fastens on his presents, and so it passes from island to island into the hands of those
intermediaries through whom the wauri went and the canoe returned. • As the seker lu
comes along, so it is added to, each forwarder vying with the others as to the amount
he adds. At the present time calico is mostly given. Eventually the seker lu arrives
at the canoe purchaser, giz le (original man), and when it is given to him, the Komet
le takes a piece of cord, each man holds one end of it, and the K6met le cuts it
saying, " That is finished." Indeed the cutting of a cord, which is symbolic of severing
the lien, is performed between all the intermediaries. The giz le or seker le gives a
present of food to the Komet le.
This is a really remarkable method of trading, and differs materially from that
described in Vol. v. pp. 296, 297 ; but in both systems there is exhibited the same high
standard of commercial honesty. An anomalous feature in this transaction is the giving
ot " presents " by the intermediaries which are associated with the outward bound wauri
on the one hand and with the homeward bound seker lu on the other. The canoe-vendor
also gives "presents," but it does not appear that the canoe-purchaser does so. There
TRADE. 187
seems to be a great tendency on the part of the natives to give " presents," but always
with the expectation of receiving at least an equivalent in exchange. The middle-men can
have no object in giving gratuitous presents to the amarik le in Kiwai or to the giz le
in Mer. I am therefore of opinion that advantage is taken of the transport of the wauri
and seker lu by the intermediaries, in order to do a little friendly exchange on their
own account. Probably a mental record is kept of the source and destination of every
object, and doubtless in the long run everyone is more or less satisfied.
BARTER WITH FOREIGNERS.
Foreign sailing vessels passing from the Pacific enter Torres Straits through Flinders
Entrance, and thus come within a short distance of the Murray Islands. Wemyss says' :
" When they observe a vessel approaching their coast, immense numbers of the natives
are seen running along the shore, some of them wading out to a considerable distance
and shouting ' wareka, wareka,' which signifies welcome [perhaps they said warem ike,
' wait-a-bit here '] ; ' maboiise,' which means ' come to us ' [ma baos, ' you come out,'
cf. S. H. Ray in. p. 2], with great vociferation, holding out bows and arrows, clubs,
tortoise-shell, cocoa-nuts, plantains, etc., calling at the same time, ' torre, torre,' meaning
iron [tulik, iron ; turik is now the Western pronunciation]. If the ship should stop,
an active barter soon commences ; at first the natives will not permit their commodities
to go out of their hands, till they have possession of what they consider an equivalent,
but if articles be given, them to inspect without hesitation, they soon lay aside their
distrust. This caution on their part shows that they must have been cheated in former
dealings with European?. Old knives, and old iron hoops straightened, are exchanged to
great advantage. When they see muskets or other deadly instruments, they try to
propitiate them, using the word puta, pitta [paud, peace] in a conciliatory tone, as much
as to say, 'don't be afraid," or the like, at the same time placing green leaves between
the flints and the pans" (p. 23)2.
Eight years later the Fly visited Mer ; Jukes writes3 : " As soon as we had anchored,
several canoes put off, but hesitated to come alongside till we shouted to them words of
friendship and invitation, in the Erroob language, which is likewise theirs. At this they
seemed highly delighted, and immediately came on board in great numbers, bringing
tortoise-shell, bows and arrows, ketai, and cocoa-nuts to barter for knives and axes."
(pi. XXVI. fig. 2.)
The experience of other voyagers was the same. The natives were ready to make
friends and were eager for trade. Knives, axes and hoop- and plane-iron were the objects
most in demand. Forty years ago beche-de-mer fishers began to frequent the Eastern
Islands. Usually their relations were friendly with the natives, but there were lawless
men amongst them, who gave rise to much trouble (cf. p. 190). By these means
1 Thomas Wemyss, Narrative of the Melancholy Shipwreck of the Ship " Charles Eaton," etc., London, 1837.
2 This account is practically verbatim with that published by Dr T. B. Wilson, Narrative of a Voyage
around the World, etc., London, 1835.
: .]. Beete Jukes, Narrative, etc. H.M.K. t'ly, London, 1847, i. p. 196.
24—2
188 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
European articles were finding their way to these islands. The first South-Sea teacher
was landed on Erub on July 3, 1871, and the first teacher to Mer arrived in 1872.
Since then these islands have been in continuous touch with Europeans, and European
fabrics, clothes and utensils soon became prevalent.
There is a social custom termed tama (described in Vol. iv.), which consists in the
exchange generally of food, but also of other objects. After the preliminary ceremony
of exchange, which is accompanied with much merriment, a sort of auction or mart
takes place; sometimes a great deal of buying and selling occurs, and in the
general excitement good prices are often realised. As in most other of their recreations
the natives overdo tama, and rivalry in buying food results in the paralysis of the
ordinary routine of daily work.
XII. QUAEEELS AND WAEFAEE.
BY A. C. HADDON.
THE Rev. A. S. Hunt says : " The Murray Islanders were noted for their fighting
propensities, and frequent raids were made by them, on the neighbouring islands and on
the mainland of New Guinea, in the Fly River district. Their principal weapons were
clubs, spears, and bows and arrows, most of which were procured from the Fly River
natives. The skulls of their slain enemies were preserved as a proof of their success.
All adult males went to war. Charms were worn for protection, and the aid of the
diviner was frequently called in to prophesy as to the prospect of success " (loc. cit.
p. 12).
Certainly the Miriam are fond of boasting of their bravery and prowess, but there
is little evidence that they were to be compared in the latter respect with the Western
Islanders. It is true they had a bad reputation, and in the old sailing directions to
mariners, a warning was given of the ferocity of the Murray Islanders. Shipwrecked
crews frequently suffered at the hands of Torres Straits Islanders, but I cannot recall
' any mention of this happening at the Murray Islands. Indeed, Dr Wilson writes 1: "I
have heard of several shipwrecked people who, since our visit (? 1822), have been treated
by them with great kindness and hospitality" (p. 313). Wemyss says3: "The inhabitants
of Murray's Island have the character of being very treacherous, daring, and deceitful.
Horsburg in his Directory cautions voyagers to be on their guard in their intercourse
with the natives of the numerous islands in Torres Straits, particularly with those of
Murray's Island. Like all other Savages, they are prone to thieving, but otherwise not
evil disposed" (p. 21). "Captain Lewis3 says he found the people of Murray's Island
very friendly and kind " (p. 30), and " was on the most friendly terms with the natives
of the island during the whole of his stay " (p. 33).
Forty years ago J. Jardine wrote, " The natives in the islands more to the north-
ward and eastward [of Moa and Badu] are said to be of milder dispositions, especially
the Darnley Islanders, of whom Capt. Edwards, of Sydney, who had a beche-de-mer
fishing establishment there during the last year, speaks in high terms as being of
friendly dispositions and displaying very considerable intelligence4."
Personally I very much doubt whether the Miriam made " frequent raids " on the
mainland of New Guinea ; what I have stated about their trade with New Guinea is
1 T. B. Wilson, Narrative of a Voyage around the World, etc., London, 1835.
3 Thomas Wemyss, Narrative of tJie Melancholy Shipwreck of the Ship " Charles Eaton," etc., London, 1837.
3 Mr Lewis was in command of the Isabella in the search for the survivors of the Charles Eaton. Cf.
Nautical Magazine, 1835.
4 John Jardine, Journ. Roy. Geogr. Soc. 18(16, p. 84.
190 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
contrary to this. We did not obtain any account of fights between the Miriam and
other places. There is no doubt that their vain-glorious excitable temperament led to
frequent squabbles, but they expended most of their energy in words. Occasionally the
quarrels led to more serious results, as in the instances that follow. The same charac-
teristic now exhibits itself in the frequency with which they summon one another
before the Mamoose in the court house (cf. p. 180).
QUARRELS AMONGST THEMSELVES.
One night the Sebeg le serenaded the villages between Sebeg and Kop with the old
custom of rob wed. They arrived at Kop about midnight, and when they began their song
Smoke (Aio), one of Kebei's sons (9 A Babud), objected to their singing and wanted them
to go away. There had been a previous quarrel between Sebeg and some of the Kop folk,
and it had not been settled — hence Smoke's objection.
Kamai's (9 Babud) mother was a Sebeg woman [according to the genealogies she (Koki)
was a Zaub woman, at any rate she was a Komet le] and for her sake he took the part
of the Sebeg le, and wanted them to go on with their 'singing. Smoke, who was a very
quarrelsome fellow, and well known to Mr Brace, would not allow them, and the Meaurem le
began to take sides, some for and some against the Sebeg le. Smoke and Kamai were on
the point of fighting, when Kebei, the father of Smoke, went to his son's assistance. Kamai
lifted a large piece of hard wood out of the fire and struck Kebei on the head with it.
Kebei dropped dead instantly, without making a move or a tremor ; he was then about 45
years of age. Kebei and Salgar, father of Kamai, were both Babud le, but they then lived
at Kop. (From an account sent to me by Mr Bruce.)
A very long time ago, so Kaige informed me, two brothers named Boa and Kaidam
(? 3 Keweid) climbed a coco-nut tree belonging to a man named Laui ; when Laui heard the
nuts falling on to the ground he took a club, tut, and killed the elder brother when he
came down and did the same to the younger brother when he came down, and laid them
by the roots of the coco-nut tree. Laui took the coco-nuts and went home. When the bodies
began to have an offensive odour they were discovered by some men who thought the two
brothers had fallen down from the tree and Laui did not say anything about what he had
done, but he made two marks on the tut as a memorial of the two men.
QUARRELS WITH FORKIGNERS.
When Pasi was a small boy, about 35 years ago, Captain Bruce brought a three-masted
vessel named Woodlark to Mer to fish for beche-de-mer. The natives made a rough model
of a ship in the sand beach at Wao and stuck three sticks in it for masts, and since then
that place has been called Ulag ("Woodlark"). She was manned by a South Sea crew,
some of whom came from Tanna, Api, Eromanga, and Fate (Sandwich), all of which, are
in the New Hebrides. The crew made a station at Umar and one at Dauar where they
stayed for two years. Every night they tried to get girls, once they went to Werbadu, but
there were no girls left, they had all gone into the bush. On one occasion they went to
Er and caught a girl named Koket and took her to Dauar. Often they got several girls.
" Heart belong people he hot, he wild."
One day some Miriam men went in a canoe to Dauar to buy some things from the
South Sea men and they overheard them say they would cross over again that night. So
QUARRELS AND WARFARE. 191
the Mer men came back as fast as they could. The South Sea men came in two boats
and anchored off Gigo, one man was left in each boat while the others went along the sand
beach to hunt for girls.
Some men from Coco-nut Island had come to Mer for food and were stopping at Las ;
they yarned and said, " I think we kill them this night." When the South Sea men came
to Mei they were met by the natives, who were armed with bows and arrows. Jack Maori,
who had a tattooed (moko) face, had a pistol and he killed Mao; Jack ran to Terker and
there followed him an old man named Namu (27 A), his brother-in-law, Kalki (16 B), Sinono
(20 A), and Saibor (? Sarpor, 16) who took a spear (bager, it was a broken wap with a
sharpened end) and thrust it through Jack's body from the back and hit him on the head
with a gabagaba and he was "dead outright." They cut off his head.
Next day Captain Bruce came with the South Sea men and brought Koket to find out
the place where Jack Maori was killed. Koket called • out to the men, who had fled to the
hill of Gelam, to ask where Jack Maori was killed. They replied that it was on the other
side of the island. The South Sea men landed at Serwaged and went westwards along the
shore, burning houses and canoes. First they killed an old woman named Laagot. They
met an old man at Keweid named Gariab or Komaberi (3) who took a sem leaf and cried
out " Paud, paud, paud (Peace, peace, peace), it was not my fault, it was the fault of the
young men." They shot him in the knee and he fell down, then they slashed his shoulder
and he died. They found a man at Mei, whom they cut into small pieces, and when they
burnt a house his remains were scorched.
When they reached Terker they found Jack Maori's body and dissevered head, these
they buried at Giar pit on Dauar ; but since then a high tide has washed them away.
The next morning the South Sea men saw one old man named Baksu on Gelam, they
caught him and cut him, the old man fell down half-dead, and when he tried to rise they
killed him right off. Next they killed Gobar, a boy about ten years of age, the son of
Gibi (1 B), and hacked Kali, sister of Tek (1), and an old woman named Bidam, Baksu's
sister (1 B). They went down the valley between Gelam and Zaumo and killed Irabai's wife,
Kawer, and their little girl, Gasi (4 D). They followed the slope of Gelam and killed a
young man named Sauiri, the brother of Kalki or Imari, and looked at Adigor (1 c) who
pretended to be dead, but they cut the mouth of her baby boy Newar, and took a piece
of iron and hit Adigor on the head, who called out for her husband Kaimai (3); he
ran after the South Sea men with a knife but was killed and cut all to pieces, " a good
man too." Then they killed an old woman named Gobagi (3).
The following morning a canoe came from Damut for food. Captain Bruce sent a boat
to enquire whence they came. They did not reply, but seized their bows and arrows. The
boat went alongside of the canoe, and the South Sea men said, "You give me a girl."
" No, we can't," replied the others. The South Sea men were " wild," and caught hold of
a girl named Sep and pulled her into the boat, they also secured a boy Sapokar, and shot
the men in the canoe, who fell into the water; how many there were was never known.
The South Sea men set fire to the canoe, and went back to Dauar.
This happened during the first season ; in the second year they returned the two Damut
people, and then they made friends.
This narrative was told to me by Pasi, and it seems to show that, although they were
great braggarts, the natives were unskilled in fighting, probably owing to lack of practice on
account of their isolation.
XIII. MAGIC1.
BY A. C. HADDON.
PAGE
To control the Elements.
Inner gali, irmer zogo and doiom for
rain ... 194
Wag zogo for wind .... 201
Meb, the Moon . . 202
Iluel, Venus 202
Eager, to preserve fire . . . 202
To control Vegetable Life.
Enau zogo for " wild plums " . . 202
Alag or Waiwa lag for " wild plums" 204
Sewereat u zogo for coco-nuts . . 206
Kaba zogo for bananas . . . 207
Sokop madub for tobacco . . 207
Dogaira wetpur for a good harvest . 209
Nauareb zogo for garden produce . 210
Birobiro zogo for yams . . .211
Ai geres for yams . . . .212
Leiver kep for yams . . .212
Kwas, to damage fruit crops . . 213
To control Animal Life.
Nam zogo for turtle . . . 213
Magical ceremony for turtle . . 213
Zogo baur for turtle . . .214
Siriam nam zole for turtle . .216
Waipem for turtle . . . .216
Deger for dugong . . . .217
Sorkar for fish . . 217
Zab zogo for fish .... 217
PAGE
Lar for fish . . . 217
Lewer mog for fishing, and cone shells 218
Lag zogo for mosquitos . . . 218
Sirar-sirar zogo for terns' eggs . 219
Mokeis, to destroy garden produce by
rats 220
Tabu, to prevent rats destroying
bananas ..... 220
To control Human Beings.
Kog lu, or Omabar kog lu, love charm 221
Neur madub, love charm . . 222
Maid (C. S. Myers), malevolent magic 222
Kamer tonar, or End lu „ „ 226
End lu aber „ „ 227
Kesur eumida tonar „ „ 227
Saibri lu, or kadal lu „ „ 228
Waridub maid lu „ „ 230
Isau mani „ „ 230
Madub „ „ 232
Paim zogo „ „ 232
Werer a gem kerar tonar
zogo „ „ 232
Constipation zogo • „ „ 233
Wiwar „ „ 233
Doiom „ „ 234
Magical objects of uncertain use 234
Nam zogo, curative magic 236
Kekuruk 237
Magical practices are now generally classed under sympathetic magic (which comprises
contagious and homoaopathic magic), the magical power of names and words, talismans
and amulets, and divination. The above enumeration will afford some idea of the
more common forms of magic practised by the Miriam ; but it must be borne in mind
that there must have been many other magical practices of which we have no record.
1 A great deal of the information here presented concerning the magical practices of the Miriam was
obtained from Mr Bruce, and acknowledgment is made where this is entirely the case.
MAGIC. 193
Also it is not always easy to draw the line between practices which are purely
"magical" and those which are "religious." Ethnologists usually employ the former
term for those actions, or for the employment of objects, which are supposed to produce
the required result automatically ; the efficacy being essentially intrinsic to the action
or object. Whereas the term " religious " is now often employed for those actions which
depend for their efficacy upon appeal to, or reliance upon, some extra-human influence
of a more or less personal nature, which operates through a ceremony or object, the
efficacy in this case being extrinsic to the action or object.
Rain-making is essentially homoeopathic, but it is enforced by the magical power
of words, though the presence of and appeal to the doiom suggests an extrinsic element.
The raising of a wind from the south-east appears to be solely intrinsic.
Of the ceremonies to ensure good crops the enau zogo and certain yam stones are
homoeopathic, the remainder are similarly intrinsic, with the possible exception of the
Dogaira wetpur which is probably extrinsic.
The essential feature of the turtle ceremony in Mer was homoeopathic, while that
of Waipem of Waier was extrinsic. The dugong and fish charms and the lag zogo were
homoeopathic. The Sorkar, zab zogo and sirar-sirar zogo appear to have been simply
intrinsic magic, but there is no evidence that they were either contagious or homoeo-
pathic. The rat charm (mokeis) which destroyed gardens and the snake charm (tabu)
which ate the rats were both homoeopathic.
Love charms were homoeopathic, combined with the power of words and suggestion.
Most of the practices of maid, or malevolent magic against persons, were founded
on suggestion, but homoeopathic magic was often introduced as in isau muni and madub.
Many of the carved or natural stones used for magical purposes were termed zole, this
being a general term, or au nei ; and of this group the bager formed a part, thus the
term bager was a kebi nei, or special name. The term wiwar appears to have been an
au nei more particularly, and perhaps entirely, for those stones which were used in male-
volent magic, maid, but wiwar were also described as zole. Pasi said that when a wiwar
was carved to represent a human face it was maidem (" for maid "), and one informant
said that maidem was an au nei, of which doiom was a kebi nei, but perhaps this referred
to the nefarious use to which these rain charms could be put. Madub was stated to be
an au nei, probably of figures of human beings (cf. Vol. v. p. 345), of which sukop madub
and, probably, neur madub were kebi nei. Omabar was the au nei of which birobiro was
a kebi nei, and I was informed that omabar was also an au nei for a neur madub.
Some magical objects could be employed for more than one purpose, thus a doiom,
which is essentially a rain charm, could also be used for malevolent magic (pp. 201, 23-t). The
nam zogo which primarily was for the purpose of securing success in catching turtle could be
employed to prevent turtle from being caught ; also it could be utilised to injure people,
or to cure the same (pp. 51, 213). The sirar-sirar zogo could ensure or inhibit success in
collecting terns' eggs (p. 219). The wiwar also could cure those they had injured (p. 233).
Talismans and amulets do not appear to be worn as such. Various ornaments, such
as the crescentic, pearl-shell chest-pendant and the deformed boar's tusk of the Bomai-Malu
ceremonies may have had a magical import at one time, but we did not discover anything to
lead us to regard them as having any special significance at the present day.
As divination is mainly extrinsic, it will be dealt with under Religion.
H. Vol. VI. 2.-,
194 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
MAGICAL PRACTICES TO CONTROL THE ELEMENTS.
Rain-making.
Rain-making was collective or individual, but invariably it was performed by the
aid of a stone image, doiom, rudely carved to represent a man. Plates IX. and XI. give
a good idea of the general appearance of these images. The head was sometimes moderately
well carved, the arms were usually indicated, but beyond these there was little or no carving,
the legs were not shown nor was there anything to indicate the sex of the human figure,
though, as a matter of fact, every doiom was a male. I was informed that doiom was
a kebi nei and that maidem ("for maid") was the au nei (cf. p. 193), but I do not think
that rain-making was regarded as a department of maid (p. 234). In all cases a neck is
carved or indicated by a groove, which was probably to enable a string to be fastened
securely round the neck by means of which the doiom could be suspended ; several of the
specimens still retain the casual loop by which they were carried when brought to me.
Description of various doiom.
PI. VIII. fig. 1. "Dugena," Gasu's doiom (p. 195), very old and worn, features undiscernable,
arms flexed nearly meeting on chest, blackened all over, a bull-roarer and two f/oa nuts in
front of neck and petticoats as described on p. 196; 225 mm.; lava.
PI. IX. fig. 1. Rudely carved, worn specimen, face and arms merely indicated; height,
244 mm. ; volcanic ash. Fig. 2. Boldly carved, arms continuous across chest, nautilus nacre in
eyes and mouth, face and eyes outlined with Abrus seeds set in beeswax, beeswax nose with two
seeds in nostrils, similar seeds on navel, face and arms painted white; 35 cm.; lava. Fig. 3. A
fairly well carved specimen, the figure does not do justice to the face; this is the only example
known to me in which there is complete undercutting between the hands and beneath the chin ;
225 mm.; ash. Fig. 4. Old worn specimen, features almost indistinguishable, arms flexed.
There is a double Y-shaped groove down the narrow back, beginning at the shoulders; 33 cm.;
black vesicular lava. Fig. 5. In addition to the white bands there are red bands across the
forehead, and round the eyes and arms; 225 mm.; ash.
PL XI. tig. 1. Recently made specimen, elongated, cylindrical stone with blunt ends
and the two sides slightly ground down, upper end rudely incised to represent a face, the two
triangular grooves below indicate the flexed arms; it was suspended by a loop of vegetable
fibre with three depending goa seeds; 187 mm.; volcanic ash. Fig. 2. Rudely carved, armless
figure, an interrupted white band round the head, nose and mouth white, continuous red band
across eyebrows, eyes and neck red; 257 mm.; vesicular lava. Fig. 3. "tierpaker," Enoka's doiom
(p. 195), very old and worn, features undiscernable, arms barely indicated, hanging from the
front of the neck are two bull-roarers blackened on one side and whitened on the other, 103
and 107 mm. long respectively, six gda nuts and one white cowry, a girdle of stems surrounds
the waist (p. 196); 49cm.; lava. Fig. 4. Features prominently carved, hair indicated with
relief, shoulder blades carved on back, a whitened circular depression at vertex margined in
red,, a white, blue and red band round the hair, a white, red and blue band round the face,
eyes and nostrils blue with a red border, nose white with a blue line on each side, mouth red,
arms red with white line above and blue below, navel blue with red border followed by a
circle of white spots and a red and a blue circle ; 25 cm. ; lava. Fig. 5. This is the only
doiom in which teeth (15 in number) are shown, a white line outlines nostrils, passes up the
nose, divaricates as eyebrows and passes round the free margin of each ear, this is also the
MAGIC. 195
only specimen in which the nipples are indicated, they are encircled with white as is the navel, from
the latter a vertical white line extends to just below the hands, general surface reddened ;
245 mm.; lava. Fig. 6. A remarkable, pot-bellied, well carved specimen, with large five-
fingered hands on chest, prominent clavicles and navel, this specimen is unique in having a
broad groove clown the back, which in the lower part of the back is tunnelled so as to leave
a bridge of stone, by this means the cloiom can be inserted on a stick stuck in the ground,
the hole was bored from above and from below, the two not being quite in a straight line, the
central lumen is very small, the front and sides of the body are white, the face and margin
of navel are yellow, the eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth, lower margin of face, neck, lower margin
of clavicles, spaces between the fingers, centre of navel and back are red, top of head and
arms black; 207 mm.; lava. Fig. 7. A curved, slightly twisted flattish stone with delicately
carved face; 285 mm.; fine grained volcanic ash. There are one or two other specimens in the
collection which need not be described, these objects occur in many museums but those here
figured may be regarded as quite typical. With the exception of figs. 3 and 5 on pi. IX.,
which are in the British Museum, all the specimens are in the Cambridge Museum. An
interesting variant is described and figured on p. 197.
All the doiom had names and some were considered to be more powerful than others.
The three most important were: " Dugena," owned by Gasu (pi. VIII. fig. 1, pi. IX. fig. 6)
which made very heavy rain with a little thunder1; "Serpaker," owned by Enoka (pi. XI.
fig. 3), this was exceptionally good at making lightning and very loud thunder, it also
made heavy rain but not so heavy as that made by Dugena (serpaker is also the name
for a small fly); and " Toraipar," or "Olo," owned by the late Saparo of Er (18).
The original place, giz, of the rain-makers was at Ulag (or Wao), but the Ulag le
gave the right to make rain to certain other people. As a matter of fact all the Zagareb le
(to employ that term in its larger sense) were the rain-makers, but the chief zogo ground was
on the plateau of Lewag, immediately to the south of Ulag. The district inhabited by
the Zagareb le, with the exception of the small settlements at Eger, Er, Mergar and Werbadu ,
w;is at the northerly end of the island, which is the spot first struck by the great thunder-
storms of the north-west monsoon.
Irmer guli, or Ceremonies in connection with the Inner zogo.
About the end of November, or beginning of December, the zogo le of the Meaurem le,
Zagareb le, Geaurem le, and Mergarem le consulted among themselves, and arranged that
it was time to have the irmer gali. At this ceremony the young men of the above mentioned
groups were initiated into the manner of preparing the doiom, and the songs and dances
connected with the gali.
The gali was held at Baur, now the compound of the London Missionary Society.
The young men gave notice to the Peibre (or Dauereb) le to prepare the ground by cutting
down any bush and clearing away the grass; the Peibre le also supplied the food for
the occasion, and their wives cooked and prepared it.
1 After Gasu had given us a complete exhibition of the ilaiom ceremony I besought him to let me have
" Dugena," and I willingly paid him what he asked for it. The next day he came round to revoke his
bargain, but I was obdurate, and since then he has never ceased regretting its loss. The head of this doiom is
broken off from tbe body; this occurred because on one occasion it did not act properly in making rain
and Gasu in a fit of anguv threw it down, and the head broke off, then he was sorry and fastened it on
auain with a piece of wire.
25—2
196 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
During the time the ground was being cleared, all the zogo le met at Ulag, bringing
with them the young men to be initiated (kesi). These were then taught the songs,
dances, and how to dress the doiom. Each man was supposed to possess one of these
stone images.
The dressing, taier, of the doiom consisted of a small bigo (bull-roarer) and two or
three gba nuts (a large nut, Pangium edule, used as a rattle), these were fastened round
the neck with a small line made of coco-nut fibre; they hung in front of the neck, and
the line was left long behind with a loop, by which the doiom was lifted or suspended. Two
petticoats were fastened round the doiom, the ser nesur1 was put on first, and the kiaki nesur3
over that. (PI. VIII. fig. 1, pi. X. fig. 3.)
When the ground was prepared at Baur, and the young men were proficient in the
ceremonies, and the doiom prepared, the men cut the spadix, pesur (that is the branch
or stem from which the coco-nuts hang), when the young nuts, kirir, were about the size
of plums, they stripped the outer skin of the branch, and it was then of a very delicate pea-
green colour. Every man had two of these branches, and held one in each hand when
dancing. He also cut a forked stick about 183 cm. (6 ft.) long, which was used for the
suspension of the doiom.
Everything being now ready, a day was appointed for holding the gali. The outsiders,
nog le, assembled shortly before sundown. On this occasion the nog le beat the two ceremonial
Main drums, Wasikor and Nemau; they had also long reeds, pater, about 250 cm. (8 ft.)
long, and split 61 cm. (2 ft.) down one end, they held these kerker keber in their hands
and shook them, so that they rattled, when each part of the singing and dancing was
finished, to give the people notice that there was to be an interval.
The zogo le arrived immediately after sunset, their bodies anointed with coco-nut
oil, and their hair covered with a mixture of charcoal and coco-nut oil, to make it very
black and glistening. A wreath, 0*70, made of two red leaves (like the croton, but not
variegated) was fastened round the brows, to the back of which was fastened a tern's
feather, sirar lub. A band of dried banana leaf was tied round the neck, a twig of red
croton, gabage wez, being inserted behind. Round the waist they had a petticoat, made
of the young fronds of the coco-nut, u kupi nesur, similar to those worn in an ordinary
dance, and kiaki nesur over that, similar to that of the doiom. At the back, fixed in
the band of the petticoat, was a bunch of long ribbon-like red croton leaves, kep wez.
As the zogo le arrived in a body, each stuck his forked stick in the ground and
hung his doiom on it. Then all stood with their backs to the doiom, which by this time
formed a large circle, inside of which the singing and dancing was done. Every man held in
each hand a coco-nut spadix, with the young nuts on it. The singing began after sundown
and continued until daybreak. The following are the gali wed, or gali songs, which were
chanted indefinitely in a small squeaking voice :
Irmer kara zogo. Rain my zogo3.
Kare naidida. Give life to me, or Save me8.
A nakeamuda. And raise me up, or Strengthen rne3.
1 Ser is the name of a shrub with small leaves, the leaves are taken and scorched over the fire, and
plaited and left to dry, when they turn to a whitish colour.
2 Made from the /.•/«/,•/ vine. 3 Mr Bruce's translation.
MAGIC.
197
Iwarge fatperge inner SmgVde.
Rain [go] inside the iwar [and] kaper trees.
The first song expresses the idea of a man feeling sick, or out-of-sorts, after a long
drought and beseeching the rain to come and give him new life and strengthen or save him.
FIG. 21. Doiom, 27 x 10 cm., tri-
angular in section, and made of
lava ; the grooves indicating the
head, eyes, nostrils, arms, etc.
are reddened; Dresden Museum,
No. 6355. The interesting and,
so far as I am aware, unique
feature of this specimen is the
long projection (145 x 20 mm.)
below the nostrils, it may re-
present a beard.
FIG. 23. Doiom used for raising
a wind.
FIG. 22. Bigo used for rain-making.
In December, when the gali is held, the leaves of the iwar and kaper trees are parched
and drooping. The second song asks the rain to enter them so that they will be refreshed.
A few weeks later the trees begin to bud, and then the doiom are prepared at Lewag1.
1 I do not know why the first annual rain ceremony was held at Baur, which is a Peibre village close
to the K6met village of Zaub, neither place belonging to the rain-making groups. The idea may have been
to present rain to the other groups before making it for themselves in their own place at Lewag.
198 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
I obtained models of a small lanceolate type of bull-roarer, bigo (fig. 22), which I believe
was used in connection with rain-making. They are made of hard wood, are imperforated
and undecorated, and are tied on to a cord about 61 cm. long, the other end of which is
fastened to a stick (about 91 to 107 cm. in length); the three bigo figured measure respectively
125 x 37 mm., 180 x 35 mm., and 247 x 35 mm., the last specimen was made by Ulai.
Individual Rain-Making.
When a zogo le wanted to make rain he went into the bush to collect leaves of wez
(croton), puar, wakor (Ipomtea biloba), watu (Homalonema), giam, geribe, ager (Callicarpa
longifolia), and kaperkaper (Abrus precatorius) and also its seeds, "crabs' eyes." These
leaves were minced and placed in a clam shell and mixed with water to form lukitp or
" medicine." The zogo le painted his doiom with red paint mixed with turtle fat and repaired
to the zogo ground, where there was a heap of stones and shells. When these were removed
and the ground cleared he laid his doiom face uppermost on the ground with the head
in the direction of the wind, i.e. to the N.W.; then he traced its outline on the ground
with his finger, and made a hole of slightly larger size. A banana leaf was then prepared by
stripping off the midrib from the under surface and by slightly roasting it. The leaf was then
placed lengthwise, upper side uppermost in the hole, and the ends were folded so as
to form the bottom and two sides of a receptacle.
A second leaf, similarly prepared, was placed transversely to the other so that the
two leaves formed a complete lining to the hole.
Lemon grass, sank pas, and turtle oil were rubbed over the doiom, the lemon grass
was then made into a bundle and burnt in a fire for a few moments, and the doiom was
twice anointed with turtle oil applied by the burnt grass. The oil was kept in an ezer shell
(Melo). The doiom was laid in the leaf-lined hole and the lukup was placed around and over
it, then water was poured from a bamboo over the whole. Finally the free flaps of the
banana leaves that formed the receptacle for the doiom were folded over the head, foot and
sides, earth was scraped over it,' and a small cairn was made of croton leaves, stones, and
clam shells (pi. IX. fig. 7); frequently a trumpet shell was placed atop. Whilst all these
operations were being performed the following zogo mer were muttered in & low sepulchral tone :
Doiom zogo mer1.
kup sisi''', dark clouds —
neder sisi, stratus clouds —
baz sisi, overcast clouds —
inner sisi, rain clouds —
kup kesimi"; etc., the dark clouds collected (or kup kesimare).
kup baud, etc., the dark clouds (die ?).
1 Great difficulty was experienced in obtaining these "doiom sacred words," and much uncertainty in ascertain-
ing their exact meaning. They consist of groups of four phrases, each of the latter enumerates a form of
cloud, but the order of each group, or that of the phrases in a group, also varies. To avoid undue repetition
I have given only one group in full, in the others the remaining three phrases begin with neder, baz, and inner.
- I do not know what sisi means.
3 Perhaps it should be knpye iami, break at the dark clouds.
MAGIC. 199
kup mizmiz, etc., the dark clouds in pieces.
kup amasamas, etc., the darkened dark clouds (asamasam).
kup etamiare, etc., the dark clouds you gather.
kup esamare, etc., the dark clouds darken.
ki samera1 (night darkness) or ki disamerem (become dark as night), utu dikmerkare
(send away sleep), peau derapare (break the coco-nut leaves?), ada gub (outside wind),
pada gub (noisy wind).
Ziaiem pek aikos- (pointing in the direction towards the south-west wind), sagerem
pek aikos (do. east to south wind), naigerem pek aikos (do. north-east to east wind), sabem pek
aikos (do. north to north-east wind), kokiem pek aikos (do. north-west wind). Aupat kesem
pek aikos pek aikos (pointing towards the opening of Aupat ; the largest valley, which
faces N.W.).
A torch, made of old coco-nut leaves, was ignited and waved lengthwise (i.e. in the
direction of the wind) over the buried doiom, the smoke represented clouds and the
flames mimicked lightning, and alternating with the waving of the torch, a bamboo clapper,
kerker keber (fig. 24) was sounded to imitate thunder. No words were said at this part of the
ceremony.
The rain was supposed to fall when the lukup and leaves around the doiom had rotted.
Fio. 24. Kerker keber, or bamboo clapper, length 50 cm.
When the ceremony was properly performed a shrine was constructed which consisted of
four large screens, baz mueni or deiar, being erected at the head, foot and sides of the
doiom, "all same man die," cf. p. 136, each screen was made by plaiting upon themselves
the pinnules of a large coco-nut palm leaf (pi. VIII. fig. 2). On the upper part of each
was fastened an oblong piece of the cloth-like spathe of a coco-nut palm, this was blackened
with soot and represented a black thunder cloud. Young coco-nut leaves were suspended close
by with their pinnules pointing downwards; these imitated the falling rain.
After the rain had fallen for some time and the zogo le thought there had been sufficient,
he went and uncovered the doiom, made a fire on the top of it, so as to burn up all
the lukup, said another incantation and struck the ground with the palm of his hand.
After this the rain ceased. Should he have omitted any detail, the rain would fall con-
tinuously. Sometimes the doiom was angry and would not stop the rain, so it had to be
propitiated by being besought to do so; but this extreme measure was employed only
at the break from the south-east to the north-west monsoon. I was also informed that
if it was desired merely to produce a fine interval in the wet weather, so that the people could
go to their gardens, the man who made the rain went very quietly in a crouching attitude to
1 All the following phrases do not appear to have been grouped, but to have been repeated one after another
in no particular order.
2 Mr Bay suggests that aikos = adj. derived from ekos, "stick out" or perhaps "point towards." The
termination -em means "motion towards," and pek or apek is "direction." Mr Bay believes that these do
not form part of the zogo mer proper.
200 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAIT8.
the spot where the doiom was buried and tapped two sticks together over it, and the
sun would shine for a short time.
There were certain minor variations in the procedure, but the foregoing account
gives, so far as my information goes, the normal full ritual. The doiom ceremony was
usually performed in the bush, but I have information that it could be undertaken on
the reef, the doiom being painted black, covered with leaves and twigs, and put in
a cavity of the coral rock at low tide, so that it would be submerged at high tide.
A large number of men could perform these ceremonies, but only a few had any
reputation as successful rain-makers. At the time of our visit to Mer (1898), Gasu
(Ulag, 12 B) and Enoka (Er, 18 A) were recognised as the most powerful rain-makers.
Ulai (Sebeg, 4 c) gave me some information and was rather inclined to pass himself
off as an authority, much to Enoka's disgust. The first zogo mer I wrote down were
obtained from Ulai, these I retailed to Enoka, who, for his own credit's sake felt obliged
to give me a more correct version and he repudiated some of Ulai's words, saying con-
temptuously, "Ulai, too much he no good." As the procedure seems to have been
subject to some variation, doubtless the incantations differed also, and experts naturally
would employ their own variants of the formula?.
Belief in this ceremony has survived the teaching of Christianity. On the occasion of my
first visit, early in 1889, rain was scarce, although it was the rainy season, and during the absence of
the white missionaries, some Zagareb le made rain with marked success. Sagori ( Akup, 1 1 ; or
Er, 18 A) and Gi (Ulag, 12) required rain for their gardens and made it in the usual fashion.
The Dauereb le did not want any as they wished to go fishing, and a little trouble arose.
Gasu and Pugari (Ulag, 12) who were then deacons, stopped the rain by taking out the ilolmn.
The white missionaries returned in the spell of fine weather that immediately followed.
Gasu and Enoka went into partnership in September, 1899, as they were anxious about
the next year's crops, and their reputation as rain-makers would have been diminished if rain
had come without their having pei-formed the doiom ceremony. So they informed Mr Bruce
they were going to prepare "a good fellow one," one able to cause a flood should it be required.
They still hankered after the old doiom which they had sold to me two months previously, and
had not the same faith in the new ones. Gasu continually said to Mr Bruce, "If the Professor
had not asked for doiom, I would not have given it away."
Mr Bruce also wrote, "We have still some very powerful doiom left on the island. The
new church was badly injured by the foundations settling, owing to the rain of a very
heavy thunderstorm, but all the natives maintained it was the thunder that did the damage,
and that the storm must have been made by someone. Enoka was first suspected, but he
denied his ability to do so, as he says he does not make thunder and lightning to spoil things,
he only makes good rain to make men's gardens grow, and 'besides,' he said, 'I am an ekalesia
(a member of the church), I did not spoil the sacred house.' Then they accused Wali, as he
was not an ekahsiu, and he had been angry with Finau, the teacher, about something. They
have now made Wali an ekalesia to protect the building from further damage."
It so happened that there was a great drought the year after we left Mer, and we came
in for some of the blame by having taken away so many good doiom that the rain-makers
were handicapped. But Debe Wali (26) was also credited with stopping the rain because it
was alleged he had defiled and thrown down the zegnaipur yam zoyo at Dauar, it was said he
knocked down the soijo in anger at the death of his brother Komaberi, believing, of course,
MAGIC. 201
that some one was the cause of his death. Then Joe Brown was accused; they said, because
he had a quarrel with Jimmy Dei, he had burnt the coco-nut zogo at Zaub by wilfully setting
fire to the grass, and in this way he had stopped the rain and blighted all the crops. Later
on Arei informed Mr Bruce as to the real cause of the drought. He said the rain-makers
were afraid to make rain, in case they might make too much wind along with it, and thereby
cause a hurricane similar to that which caused much havoc some months previously, and they
feared the government would punish them if many lives were lost; besides, Gasu, being then
blind, could not see to prepare the zogo properly, and they were afraid to make it.
Not only were the doiom powerful, but it was believed that the incantations them-
selves were also efficacious. During our visit, Mr Bruce induced Gasu to visit his house
secretly one evening in order that he might obtain the zogo mer. No sooner had Gasu
started reciting them, than a short shower fell, although it was a clear night. The
next morning every one on the island knew why that shower had fallen.
I obtained from Ulai two bamboo models of doiom (fig. 23) said to have been used
at Pas to cause wind1.
A doiom could also be used for malevolent magic (p. 234). I took down the phrase
doiom nerut nei maidem, " doiom another name for maid."
There is no doubt that rain-making was one of the functions of the Zagareb le as
a whole (including the four minor groups), and all the young men appear to have been
initiated into the procedure. The public ceremony irmer gali took place at the beginning
of the rainy season, and doubtless was the recognised means of ensuring a full annual
supply of rain for the island. Certain doiom were credited with especial power and
consequently the heads of the families in which these were hereditary became potent
rain-makers, and they, and other practitioners also, would make rain in their private
capacity at other times when called upon to do so. Thus it appears we have in the
irmer gali a survival of the old collective annual ceremony of a rain clan, and in addition
individual rain-makers, who, however, are still confined to the rain-making community.
Wag zogo, Wind zogo.
There is a recess with a sandy floor in the lava fore-shore at Turpit which is covered by
the sea at high tide. In this are two boulders of a pinkish granite, and therefore they
are of foreign origin ; one, neiu (pi. XIX. fig. 1), is oval and about 215 mm. (8^ in.)
in length, the other, sager, is roughly spherical with a diameter of about 155 mm. (6 in.).
When it was required to make a " big wind " from the south-east four or five men
took geribe plants and fronds of the coco-nut palm, and after repeatedly pointing them at
the stones left them there (pi. XIX. fig. 2). A " big wind " would immediately arise which
lasted until the plants were removed. This zogo was employed only in the season of the
south-east trade-wind. On my asking whether the ceremony was done in the north-west
monsoon Mamai said emphatically " Can't do it in north-west," that is, the charm is
1 They are made of split bamboo, 48cm. in length, pointed at each end; the upper llcm. are black,
the lower portion is red in one specimen and yellow in the other ; each is decorated with six stiff fibres,
about 42 cm. long, two tufts of cassowary feathers, a white cowry (Ovulum) and two gita nuts suspended by
strings, the shell and the nuts are painted red or yellow to correspond with the doiom ; each has a loop for
suspension.
H. Vol. VI. 26
202 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
performed only at that season of the year when the required result is possible, indeed
when it is of normal occurrence. (Information obtained from Mamai (Warwe, 16).)
Meb, The Moon.
(The Rev. Dr S. MacFarlane gave me the following note.)
" The moon belongs to two men at Erub (Darnley Island), and is the shadow of
two stones in their possession, one for the new moon and the other for the full moon.
One stone on one side of the island is round like the full moon, the other on the opposite side
of Erub is crescentic like the new moon."
Iluel, Venus.
Jimmy Dei informed me that Iluel or Ilwel, the large stone image of a woman
that represents the evening star, belongs to Erub, and remained at a place called Irm6d.
When the sun goes down and the star comes up and shines with a faint light, any man
or boy can take a small stone and hit the stone Iluel all over the body, head and
limbs. " By and by, sundown, Iluel he light, like moon " (cf. p. 4).
Eager.
A bager is usually an image of a crouching woman rudely carved in lava or coral1
(pi. XII. figs. 1 — 6). In most cases (but not in pi. XII. fig. 4) the woman is represented
as being pregnant, generally in an advanced stage. The image was placed close to the
fire when the people left their houses, and the lamar, or spirit, of the image was supposed
to mind the fire and see that it did not go out.
It is worth noting that looking after a fire is woman's work, and as a woman far
advanced in pregnancy is less likely to wander about, but would stay at home and thus
be at hand to attend to the fire, so the stone woman was made in a corresponding
condition in order that she might the more effectively perform her duty.
Certain bager are volcanic bombs (pi. XII. figs. 7, 8) which are found on Gur, this
is part of the central vent of the old crater of Mer. They are kept in the houses to
prevent the fire from going out. They are said sometimes to leave the house all by
themselves and to return to their native hill.
The au nei for these objects was ur asaskili, probably it should be ur asisile, "fire
care for." The kebi nei, ' bager,' was however the term most generally employed ; some-
times they were called zole, but this is an au nei for various kinds of .stones used for
magical purposes.
MAGICAL PRACTICES TO CONTROL VEGETABLE LIFE.
Enau zogo.
The most important of the wild fruits of the Murray Islands is that known as enau,
enoa, or wangai (Mimusops Browniana) which is locally called the " date-plum " or " wild
1 On pi. XII. are five figures of lager representing pregnant women rudely carved out of vesicular lava,
their heights are respectively: (1) 245mm., (2) 195 mm., (3) 285mm., (5) 137mm., (6) 46cm. Both eyes
in fig. 2 were originally inlaid with nacre. Fig. 4 (235 mm. high) is made of brainstone coral, it lias no
legs, and is cleverly carved. I collected it in 1889 and gave it to the British Museum. Fig. 7 is 235 mm.
in length and fig. 8 is 182mm. All except 4 and 5 are in the Cambridge Museum.
MAGIC. 203
plum." The fruit when ripening is of a red colour, but when fully ripe it turns to the
colour of a purple plum. The wood of this tree is very durable, consequently the stump
of a wangai tree forms an excellent boundary mark.
The enau zogo is of recent and local origin and is the only zogo that lacks something
supernormal in its inception. The founding of the zogo was due to the fact that the
people wanted the fruit to ripen quickly.
So some Teg le and Ormei le decided on erecting a shrine and making a zogo
to expedite matters. They repaired to Kebi Dauar, the smaller hill of the island, where
there are a number of small stones very similar in appearance to the stone of the enau
fruit; these they collected and having cleared a circular patch of ground in the garden
now belonging to Billy at Waperered, they placed a large number of giant clam shells
there, in each of which they put a quantity of the small stones (pi. III. fig. 4, pi. XIII.
fig. 10). The stones and shells were painted red with mair, and anointed with the
usual scraped coco-nut kernel mixed with coco-nut oil, id, when the enau fruit was
still green, in order to ripen it. They also rubbed their bodies with id and painted
them with mair and drew three red lines on their faces, one median and vertical from
hair to chin, the other two converging from each angle of the lower jaw to the root of
the nose. They placed a Torres Straits pigeon feather in their hair and wrapped round
their waists a belt, wok, made of dried banana leaves. This was the decoration, taier,
they adopted for the zogo. After this was finished they left the shrine and made
arrangements to meet the following day at Teg.
The next day the zogo le met at Teg and sat down in a circle, while the head
zogo le stood in the centre, raised his right hand with the fingers pointing downwards
and made a circular motion with it as if he were stirring something, tag dikromer; at
the same time he repeated the following zogo mer :
Enau neau digrik Enau ripe turn round1.
Pot darpomer Stalk pluck.
Tarn eumida Branches dead2.
This finished the ceremony, and it was arranged that the zogo le should meet alternately
at Teg and at Ormei, on the opposite sides of Dauar, as the enau season came round,
so that by this means the fruit could be ripened quickly. The clam shells represented
baskets and the numerous stones the plenteous harvest they anticipated, while the red
paint indicated the process of ripening.
The head zogo le are Billy for Teg (23) and Tako3 for Ormei.
As this zogo was a purely local production the zogo mer are in their own language,
this is unlike the other zogo ceremonies in which the several zogo le have to employ
a foreign language and thus can only guess at the meaning of the words of the songs
and zogo mer; but as a matter of fact this does not seem to trouble them at all, since
they are as earnest in using the sounds in their ceremonies as if they fully realised
their meaning.
1 This refers to the fruit turning on its stalk owing to the action of the wind.
2 As in songs and other zogo mer, the words are few in number and are suggestive rather than fully
descriptive sentences.
* This name is not in the genealogies, possibly it is the same individual as Katu (Ormei, 25).
26—2
204
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
Alag, or Waiwa lag.
The following account of the Murray Island Alag, or Waiwa lag, has been almost
entirely obtained from Mr Bruce.
When the zogo ceremony succeeded in producing a large crop of enau fruit, the
alag, or waiwa lag, ceremony was held. Originally, like the zogo, this was confined to
Dauar; but the Mer men wanted to get it, so
the Dauar men gave it to the Meaurem le of
Kop and Babud. Mr Bruce regards this as "only
a play carried on as a kind of thanksgiving for
the good crop of fruit. It was not zogo."
The following were the performers : (1) the
three chief men were the waiwa lag le, (2) one
man who acted as a kind of manager was called
wakari le (Mr Bruce says he " acts as captain,"
and Enoka described him to me as " first man,
like boss"), (3) numerous alag le who acted as
runners, and (4) one man called kum le, but I
do not know what he did.
The waiwa lag le (fig. 25) were clothed in the
following manner. The bark of the sem tree (Hibiscus
tiliaceus) was shredded out like twine and of this
long fringes or petticoats, nesur, were made. One,
fastened round the neck, hung down to the waist
where it was overlapped by another which came
down to the legs, the latter, the arms and the head
itself were swathed with these nesur. The body and
limbs were finally bound round with rope made of
coco-nut fibre. Each carried a long pole, tut, the
ends of which were well wrapped round with coco-
nut fibre so that they would not cause any injury
when they were thrown at a person. Mr Bruce who
has seen this ceremony says, "when they run, which
they do in a sidelong manner, they look just like
great brown bears." They wore a spindle-shaped
mask, alago op (alag's face), with two eye-holes, and
with a short, somewhat drooping, tail-like elonga-
tion, kod, at the upper apex (fig. 26) which was
made from Hibiscus bark.
The wakari le was dressed with green banana leaves made into nesur. One fastened
round his neck reached down to his waist where it was tied round the body, and dry banana
leaves were inserted beneath the waist girdle and round his neck, like a great collar. Another
nesur hung down from his waist to the knees, this was of a light pea-green colour. The whole
of the head and face was surrounded by a mask composed of dried stems of a thick grass
arranged vertically. He carried a short wand in his hand.
Fio. 25. Waiwa lag le, from a sketch by
Mr J. Bruce.
MAGIC.
205
The kum le was dressed in the same manner except that his mask was made from the
outer rind of the banana tree.
The alag le dressed in any fantastic style they chose, but they all wore an alago op, similar to
that worn by a waiwa lag le, but the kod was longer and rigid (fig. 27).
FIG. 26. Sketch of the head of a waiwa
lag le wearing an alago op by Past.
FIG. 27. Sketch of an alag le by Pasi.
On the first day of the ceremony, the wakari le alone performed. He started from
Omar and examined all the wangai trees. The second day he repeated the performance
in company with two alag le. The third day two more alag le were added and another
two on the fourth day. On these days the wakari le went first, being followed by the
alag le, they all pretended to be searching for something, and when they saw any people
they ran after them and made pretence of spearing them.
On the fifth day one of the waiwa lag le joined in, and on each of the two
succeeding days another waiwa lag le was added, together with increasing increments
of alag le, so that by the seventh day all who liked could join in the ceremony.
On the fifth, sixth and seventh and succeeding days the waiwa lag le took the lead,
they went very slowly, meandering from side to side as if they were searching.
(Enoka described them as going about like old men, they trailed a long stick on
the ground and danced in a crouching manner. According to him the three waiwa
lag le led the way, they were followed by the wakari le, then came the numerous
alag le, the rear being brought up by the kum le.) The alag le were all good
206 ANTHKOPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
runners and ran swiftly along the narrow foot-paths. They ran from Umar to Kop
and Babud1, the two latter being the head-quarters of the ceremony.
The people who were stationed at Kop and Babud sang and beat bamboos and
shells as the alag le came daily running thither. Each day the alag le left their
masks at Kop, laying them in a line on the ground. The following day they appeared
with new masks. This performance would be carried on for a few weeks; twice every
day in the morning from about 9 A.M. till noon and in the afternoon from about
3 to 5 P.M.
When the men thought this had been going on for a sufficiently long time they
held a meeting and ordered food to be brought in the following day. This was done
in the morning and the food was piled up in heaps. In the afternoon the food was
distributed and all the alag le masks were put on to a heap and burned. This was
the end of the ceremony for that year2.
This may be regarded as the original ceremony to increase the enau fruit ; there
was an annual ceremony at the time of the ripening of this fruit in various western
islands, cf. Vol. v. pp. 347—349.
Sewereat u zogo, for Coco-nuts.
The Sewereat u zogo is situated on the beach of the bay of Ormei on the south
side of the island of Dauar. This is the spot where Gawer met Abob and Kos
(p. 26), and presented them with staves before sending them off to exterminate the
Waier le.
The Sewereat u zogo shrine (pi. III. fig. 3) consists of two or three large clam
shells on a block of volcanic ash under a zom tree. The single shell on the adjacent
higher rock is the miskor (clam shell) into which the zogo le poured turtle oil in
which roasted bananas had been previously pounded. Each zogo le ceremonially supped
the mixture with a coco-nut shell spoon ; when they had finished the shell was placed
in the position seen in the photograph, ready for the next ceremony. The object of
this zogo was to make coco-nuts abundant. In the photograph a large kaper tree
1 Dr Myers was told by one informant that they ran from Gigo to Sebeg, and by another, from Deiau to
Babud.
2 Dr Myers witnessed a partial representation of this ceremony as one event in a series of amusements
on the Queen's birthday (May 24, 1898). Asalgi (Teg, 23) and Alo (Er, 18 u) personated the waiwa lag,
their faces and heads were covered with a black mask, in the mouth of which they wore a sham pipe and
above which waved a plume of banana leaf; black ribbons hung down from over the head. Over their black
coats they wore strips of dried banana leaf, and each earned a black spear which ended in a round knob. On
their approach from the bush the women and children ran down into the sea. They rushed through the
crowd and then retired behind the village. The alag was personified by Canoe (Ormei, 25), he was said to
be running about in the bush, with white stripes across his back and dressed with a helmet similar to the
above save that the plume of banana leaves drooped behind instead of being more erect. Dr Myers has a
memorandum that on the first day one alag (wakari) and one waiwa lag man ran ; on the second day two
alag and one waiwa lag (but a different one from that of the previous day) ran ; on the third day three
nlinj and yet another of the waiwa lag ; on the fourth and subsequent days no waiwa lag man appeared,
but an additional alag man was added each day. The ceremony ended on the twentieth day with the approach
of twenty alag men.
MAGIC. 207
can be seen ; a great Fusus shell had been stuck into it, round which the bark has
partially grown.
The culture heroes Abob and Kos (p. 25) were Zagareb le, and the Dauar men
say that they erected the shrine and founded this u zogo along with Gawer, so that
Sewereat was the first or foundation of all the u zogo (u zogo giz\ No Dauar men
are u zogo le. Before the Zagareb le prepared their annual u zogo, they went first
to Ormei and prepared the Sewereat zogo, then they crossed over to Eger and prepared
the u zogo there. Eger was the place to which Abob and Kos went (p. 27) and
where they rested after slaying the Warip, and therefore they erected a zogo shrine
there also. Lastly the Zagareb le prepared the u zogo at Lewag.
Mr J. Bruce informs me that "Sida (p. 22) was the original founder of the
u zogo, so that Sewereat could not have been the first u zogo founded, although the
natives hold that it was so; but one always finds discrepancies creep into the
legends when inquired into closely. Women were not allowed to have anything to do
with zogo work, so that Gawer should not have had a hand in erecting the zogo
at Ormei."
Kaba zogo, for Bananas.
Mr Bruce informs me that there are two head (tarim le) kaba zogo le who are
also called the miaii le. Jimmy Dei (4 B) represents the Gigo zogo and Enoka (18 A)
the Sarged zogo. The miaii is a " bird " that no one sees, but it is heard calling
out in the bush ; the noise made is similar to that of a young child crying " mi ai i."
The bird gives notice to all that there is going to be a plentiful crop of bananas
during the season (gaire kaba a au debele, plenty of bananas and very good). The
bird really informs the people that the kaba zogo ceremony has been completed and
the zogo le assures them of an abundant crop. It seems evident that the cry of the
" bird " is a pious deception on the part of the zogo le ; one informant described it as
"Devil pigeon [spirit bird], cry like baby."
According to Hunt (1. c., p. 8) if the bananas were not growing well a gift of
bananas was presented to the kaba zogo le, who would zogo ikeli, make zogo, in order
to increase the fruit. This gift was called aosmer lewer, "go-out food." According to
him a part of this " priesthood " seceded and formed a separate neur zogo, " girl shrine,"
which had the same object as the preceding.
Sokop madub, for Tobacco.
A sokop madub, or tobacco charm, consists of a narrow slab of wood carved to
represent a man (figs. 28 — 31). Some old ones (fig. 29, pi. XIII. figs. 6 — 8) which
were collected in 1889 from Dauar show, although much worn, considerable skill on
the part of the artist in giving characteristic contours to the faces. Probably these
were painted, as are the more modern specimens; they measure respectively 217, 545,
435 mm.
Numbers of these effigies were stuck in the ground in tobacco gardens in order
to make the tobacco grow more quickly. They were also in some instances (fig. 29
for example) tied on to a small bamboo so that the tobacco should grow to the same
208
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
height. I was informed in 1889 that sometimes a large sokop madub would be put in
the stern of a canoe and decorated with feathers for "gammon" (fun).
FIG. 28. J nat. size.
Tobacco charms from the Murray Islands.
FIG. 29. | nat. size. FIG. 30. J nat. size.
FIG. 31. \ nat. size.
Fig. 28 is 42 cm. in height and is entirely painted in transverse bands with black, red
and white pigment. A piece of very soft wood or pith is tied to the back and in it are
stuck several sticks to the end of which white feathers are lashed. Sprays of maidenhair
fern and leaves of Abrus precatorius are tied to the base of the charm.
Fig. 29 is 62 cm. in height, the face is painted red with white lines, the nose, terminal
prominence and upper part of the body are also white, the rest of the body is decorated
with red and white transverse bands. Some Abrus leaves are fastened round the neck and
to the lower portion; the part below these was evidently stuck in the ground.
MAGIC. 209
Fig. 30 is 265 mm. in height, it was obtained in 1889 from the maker, Billy Gasu of
Dauar, it is carved in meker wood (Terminalia catappa). These three specimens are in the
Cambridge Museum.
Fig. 31 was collected in 1889 and given by me to the Oxford Museum. It is 1025 mm. in
height. The head, thigh and leg are red, and the body is black ; the part inserted in the
ground is plain.
PI. XIII. fig. 5, is 69 cm. high ; the mouth and one arm are broken ; face, yellow ; eye,
red ; hair, red, the grey grooves indicate that it is done in long curls, ed ; neck, shoulder, arm
and front edge of body, red ; sides of body, black ; belt, red, grey and white bands ; thigh,
red; lower leg, plain. British Museum; collected in 1889.
Dogaira wetpur, for a good Harvest.
Dogai masks were worn by the Mergarem le, Geaurem le, Piaderem le, Sarnsep le and
Zagareb le in connection with a wetpur (a feast combined with a dance) which was held in
rotation at the four spots which were specially reserved for this purpose. An account of
Dogai will be found in the section on Religion. The keber of Dogai is described on p. 143.
The Dogaira wetpur were held annually in September and October, as food was
then plentiful. There were two masks1 which were kept in a house built of small
stones (the only erection of the kind known to me) at Zer. Wanu (Areb, 15 A) and
Mamai (Warwe, 16) were the principal custodians of the masks, and they prepared
them for the ceremonies.
The Dogai masks were not zogo, but they were housed and taken great care of
as if they were zogo. Before the masks were taken to a wetpur the women of that
particular group went to the ground where it was to be held and carefully cleaned and
prepared it, which proves conclusively that they were not zogo.
The Mergarem le and Geaurem le had the honour of the first annual wetpur.
When their place at Bak was thoroughly prepared and the wetpur ready, Wanu and
Mamai brought the two masks to Bak ; one was handed over to Barsa (Terker, 20),
who is the representative man of that division, and the other to Dawita (Er, 16).
These put on the masks and were the first to dance ; when they had finished the masks
were handed over to two other men of the group, and so on until all had their turn.
Spectators from other groups were present, but were not permitted to wear the masks
1 An original Dogai mask may exist in some museum, but of this there is no record, so I asked Mr Bruce
to have one made for me, and after a great deal of trouble he succeeded in sending a model to the
Cambridge Museum (pi. XXII. fig. 7). This specimen is about 755mm. (nearly 30 in.) in height and 480mm.
(19 in.) in breadth. It is composed of unpainted turtle-shell; the large nose is white with red alee, the lips
are white and the mouth red, the ears are red, the raised eyes are white with a black pupil, below each
eye is a low cylinder or wart (au bage bage, "big cheeks," evidently to indicate high cheek bones) with red
sides and white top, 64 mm. in diameter, 37 mm. in height. A red line passes down each side of the nose
to the angle of the mouth and one from each ala to the mouth, the space between these is white. Six red
and live white lines run vertically below the mouth. A red band runs round the face and expands into a
diamond on the forehead. Sticks of pith surround the face, to which are fastened bunches of cassowary and
other (mainly white) feathers to represent hair ; shredded bark, grass, etc. form a fringe at the sides of the
face and there is a long fringe of sago leaves, bisi, round the head. A white cowry is fastened above and
another below and a four-rayed star, dogaira wer, is fixed above the forehead. On each side of the nostril
is a hole for the wearer to see through and a loop stretches from side to side at the back of the mask
which the wearer gripped in his month.
H. Vol. VI. 27
210 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
or otherwise join in the ceremony. The people camped and slept at the place where
the ceremony was being held, each ceremony lasted for about a week. When the Bak
men had finished, the masks were handed over to the care of Wanu and Mamai.
During the time that the ceremony was in operation at Bak, those whose duty it was
to perform the next ceremony were preparing their place at Kabur, and the Bak men
handed over to them all the food that was left over from their wetpur.
The same performance was gone through at Kabur, the masks being handed over
by Wanu and Mamai to Gabi (Ulag, 12 c) and Boa (Ulag, 12 B) as representative men
of the Zagareb le. The third performance was at Mear, where Kadub danced as the
representative man of the Piaderem le] in each case the surplus food was handed
over to their successors. The last performance was at Zer, where Wanu and Mamai
as head men of the Samsep le led off the proceedings. In all cases the other local
men wore the masks and danced when the head men were tired. When the last
wetpur was finished, Wanu and Mamai retained all the food on the ground, which
appears to have been the form of payment they received for their trouble in housing
the masks and preparing them for the ceremonies.
We have no precise information as to the significance of this ceremony ; probably
it was a magical performance to secure a good harvest, in which case it would be
analogous to the Mawa ceremonies of the Western Islanders described in Vol. v. p. 349.
Mr Bruce suggests that it may have been a kind of harvest thanksgiving or feast.
The difference between a wetpur and an ordinary feast appears to be in the fact that
the wetpur ground is always in the vicinity of one or more large trees, and the food
is suspended from the branches of the trees so that they resemble great Christmas
trees, but food is also piled up in columns on the ground.
Nauareb zogo, for Garden Produce.
Nauareb zogo (fig. 32) is a somewhat pyriform boulder of granite 36 cm. (1 ft
2 in.) in height and roughly triangular in section, 70 cm. (2 ft. 4 in.) in circumference ;
and decorated with four looped streaks of red paint, the beuds
of which converge towards the apex of the stone. It is situated
near the lava plateau, not far from the edge that overlooks Kiam.
I was informed that this stone was a man named Nauareb
who came to Kiam from Erub along with two women named
Asor-puleb and Mi-puleb. The two latter stopped on the reef, but
Nauareb came to the shore and said to the other two, " You fellow
stop and look out sea, look out fish. I go up, I look out ground,
look out garden." Thus the spider shell (Pterocera) and the clam
shell (Tridacna) remain on the reef, and take charge of the fish
(probably they caused only those two kinds of molluscs to be
J / J FIG. 32. Sketch of the
abundant) while Nauareb became a garden zogo and made that Nauareb zogo.
fruitful.
The Kbmet le of Sebeg, Mad, B5get, and Korog were said to "savvy this zogo."
Even if the stone did come from Darnley Island it must, being granitic, originally
have come from one of the western islands.
MAGIC. 211
Birobiro zogo, for Yams.
The birobiro, or berobero, is a small migratory bird, red in colour and about the
size of the ti (sun-bird). It comes to Mer about the end of March at the time when
the yams are ready for eating. It calls out its own name ; when the people hear
it for the first time of a season they say to each other, " Ah ! birobiro has come,
I heard it, the yams are nearly ready."
There were two birobiro zogo spots in Mer, one was at Opeb1, and the other,
and perhaps the more important, was at Naror which lies between the spur of the
hill behind Zaub (or Zeub) and the Tomog zogo ground. The Sebeg le were the
zogo le who had charge of the birobiro zogo and its appropriate ceremonies.
Each zogo stone2 was kept in the bush in the zogo ground inside the two valves
of a miskor (giant clam, Tridacna gigas) and no one except the birobiro zogo le was
allowed to see them. Mamoose Arei gave us two shells containing the mair, red paint,
which was used in connection with the Naror zogo. A large clam shell was inverted
over the small shells to keep the rain off the paint.
When the birobiro heralds the approach of the yam season the head birobiro zogo le
searches for a new yam like the shape of the zogo, then he informs a number of men
that they will dig yams that day, but previously to doing so they paint their faces
with three red lines, one across the brows and one on each side diverging from the root
of the nose across the cheek. The women go into the bush to cook the yams ; when
they are ready all the birobiro zogo le stand in a line each holding a banana leaf with
both hands in front of. him. Everyone gives food in rotation to the birobiro zogo le.
This distribution of food is called bubarup. The birobiro zogo le are rewarded by this
annual presentation of firstfruits for their efforts in securing by means of the zogo an
abundant crop of yams.
Zegnaipur zogo was the principal yam zogo on Dauar; Komaberi (26), who married
a Zaub woman, and Arei (2), the paternal uncle of the latter, were the zogo le who
prepared the annual ceremony.
1 I do not know where this is. One informant said that a birobiro zogo was associated with Ulag, Mei
and Las.
3 The birobiro zogo were small stones ground to a smooth surface and carved to represent a bird.
Birobiro is a kebi nei, the au nei being omabar. The Opep zogo (pi. XIII. fig. 2) is 74 mm. long, but one
end has evidently been broken off a long time ago. The stone was shaped by bruising and the original
pecking is now entirely obliterated, the two ends are painted red and rings of red surround each ventral
prominence. One end is the head, the other the tail, the vertical projection is the wing, and the two ventral
knobs are the legs of the birobiro bird.
A somewhat similar stone, fig. 3, lacks the vertical projection, but there is an indication that one might
originally have been present, one end of the stone is bevelled off on each side into a ridge, the two knobs
occur at about one-third of the total length from this end. It is made of a hornstone of fine texture,
probably of metamorphic origin ; it is 128 mm. long. This birobiro zogo was described as Kabur zogo, but
I do not know where Kabur is; like the preceding it was called lewer (yam) zogo.
PI. XIII. fig. 4 is a photograph of a stone which bears the label of "Naror birobiro zogo." It is an
irregular, water-worn, tongue-shaped block of porphyritic felsite, 284 mm. in length. At the narrower end
are two oval chipped surfaces which give the appearance of nostrils, but they may be accidental, one can
just be seen above the left end of the stone ; except for these two doubtful flakings, there is no trace of
human workmanship. I have my suspicions that some mistake has arisen with regard to this specimen.
27—2
212 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
Ai geres, for Yams.
Ai gfres (pi. IV. fig. 4) is a stone rudely carved and said to represent a woman ;
it was formerly placed in the garden of the wife of Jimmy Dei (Sebeg, 4 B) which
was situated on the hill of Ai. Every evening Ai geres called out to the zogo stones
of the surrounding gardens and scoffed at them for having dark earth and not red earth
like hers: "I have red earth in my garden!" she said, and, as a matter of fact, the
colour of the earth in that spot is an especially bright red. Beside her was a small
clam shell which contained a pebble, these were her basket and food. She ensured good
crops of yarns.
The effigy is 42 cm. in height, the head was broken off, but was put in position to
be photographed, only the arms are carved and there is no indication of sex. The lower
portion, which is imbedded in the soil, is simply rounded. The figure and " basket of food "
are in the Cambridge Museum. It is made of local lava.
Lewer kep, for Yams.
There were in the Murray Islands a large number of stones that were kept in the
gardens to make the yams grow. Some were impersonal while others had definite
names.
The impersonal stones were named after the particular food which they caused to
be fruitful. For example there were numerous lewer kep, yam seed (pi. X. figs. 6, 7, 8) ;
one irregular concretion (pi. XIII. fig. 11) is a ketai kep zogo, the ketai being a variety
of yam. One lewer kep zogo consists of a large Fusus shell (445 mm. long) (pi. XIII.
fig. 9), which was called the nar, or canoe, it contained a lewer kep.
PI. X. fig. 6, an oval boulder of foreign stone 28 cm. long ; fig. 7, an irregular water-worn
block of foreign igneous rock 15 cm. long; fig. 8 a pyriform water- worn block of foreign
igneous rock (an ophitic dolerite, probably intrusive, of rather coarse texture), 167 mm. long.
These three were called lewer kep (yam seed).
PI. XIII. fig. 11, ketai kep, an irregular nodule of concretionary volcanic ash, with several
protuberances, 170 cm. long.
The following stones appear to have had individual names.
Tik (pi. X. fig. 2), whose function was to take charge of a garden, belonged to
Warwe ; it was brought to me with great care in a palm-leaf basket (pi. X. fig. 3).
Aiget (pi. XIV. figs. 5, 6) is elaborately carved back and front to represent a human
head, it was described as a garden zole from Aum, and it made garden produce grow.
No name was obtained with the zole (pi. XIV. fig. 1) from Las, it was a garden
charm and was carved to represent a human head with a prominent nose.
PI. X. fig. 2, a smooth, evidently worked, fusiform stone of pink syenite, 180 cm. long
with rounded ends, the ends and the equatorial swelling are bruised.
MAGIC.
213
PL XIV. fig. 1, a head and face rudely cut out of vesicular lava, with a prominent hooked
nose, length 27 cm., height 25 cm. ; figs. 5, 6, an elaborately carved, wedge-shaped block of
vesicular lava, 315 mm. high. One side represents a human face, apparently with a kirkub
through the nose. The upper parts of all the raised surfaces are coloured white and the
deeper parts of the intaglio are red, the only exception being the central
circular depression at the back, which is white.
Kwas, to damage Crops.
Certain people, according to Mr Bruce, have the power of doing
harm to fruit crops only, and they alone practise the form of magic
known as kwas. Sometimes all the fruit rots on the trees or there
are scanty crops ; of course this happens only in dry seasons, but when
it does occur these people are believed to have accomplished the
disaster.
MAGICAL PRACTICES TO CONTROL ANIMAL LIFE.
Turtle Ceremonies : Nam zogo.
The nam (turtle) zogo was a very important shrine which belonged
to the Meaurem and K6met le, it was kept in a house, pelak, in the
bush between Babud and Mek. The zogo consisted of the images of
a male and a female turtle made of turtle-shell, they were in the
charge of three zogo le who were Meaurem le. The myth of origin
of this zogo is given on pp. 46 — 52. As mentioned on p. 51, the
nam zogo were not only effective in helping men to catch turtle or
preventing them from so doing1, but they could kill men and also
make them well. Mr Hunt (1. c. p. 8) states that at the beginning
of the turtle season a present of food was taken to the Meaurem
le to ensure abundance of turtle.
Magical Turtle Ceremony.
When a turtle was caught in former days on Mer it was placed
on its back on the beach and a number of men carrying bigo2 walked
three times round it " widdershins " (counter-clockwise). These bigo
(fig. 33) are large bull-roarers, each of which was fastened to a string, the
other end of which was tied to a stick. At first the bigo were simply in turt]e ceremonies.
carried, later they were whirled, and as the bigo hummed the men cried
out " Oh ! Oh ! " in a high key. Instead of swinging bull-roarers some men would slap their
Fio. 33. Bigo used
1 Even quite recently people have wished to summon before the police court those who were suspected
of having " made nam zogo to prevent the catching of turtle."
2 These bigo are of a large elongated oval form (fig. 33) of painted wood, the design is in red and yellow
ochre spotted with white or red ; one is 355 x 115 mm. and the other 406 x 127 mm. ; the strings are about
107 cm. in length and the sticks about 137 cm. ; the latter are carved at the upper end into a series of
roughly cut inverted cones, painted alternately red and white. These were definitely stated to be similar to
those that were employed in the turtle ceremonies.
214 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TOERES STRAITS.
thighs with their hands. The men decked themselves with twigs and leaves, lislis, some
of which were formed into a coronet, others were stuck in the arm-bands, a large bunch
was inserted in the back of the belt, and a bunch was held in the right hand.
When the head man had finished going round the turtle, he chewed some red earth
and inserted a piece of the stem of the gaurgaur creeper into the cloaca of the turtle
and pushed the stick backwards and forwards1, then he spat, mair itu, on the under shell
of the turtle so as to make four red spots, one close to each flapper.
After this all the men left the turtle and went in single file to a tree or post, upon
which they fastened the lislis. These leaves were used upon a subsequent occasion if
not too withered.
This ceremony is said to have been performed over every turtle caught, but I am
not sure whether this was the case, as I have also the definite statement that it was done
to the first turtle of the season ; also I have no information whether it was performed at
any spot or at the zogo ground.
Zogo baur.
Formerly when a turtle was caught by Dauar men it was placed on a beach in
Dauar on its back and two carved and highly decorated boards, zogo baur, were erected,
one on either side of its neck. A number of men closely surrounded the posts, while
four men seized hold of the two long ropes which depended from the top of each board
and stood at the head of the turtle with their right hands away from the turtle, they
then proceeded to walk with a sort of dancing movement counter-clockwise round the
turtle ; after they had advanced a short distance they partly retraced their steps without
turning round, and advanced again until they had circumambulated the turtle, all the
time making overhauling movements with their hands on the ropes. A drum was
beaten and carried round, but a bigo *was not swung, and the following song was
chanted :
Ina sena wa waii dagulal wapa ina baur
Here these fish spear harpoon here spear
gam agu waza sisa gam agu waza (Iwazi) arpain
body carapace marginal bones lie about
baur nideba (= nidaipa) karipun (= kaipuri).
hold or take going to windward.
In 1898 1 obtained the following which is evidently a degraded variant of the
former, the meaning of the last three words is unknown to me:
Mina sinaua waidalgula apa (repeat) ; lulum lulum auzilulum (repeat).
Much of this information was obtained from Kilarup (28) and Alo (18 B).
When all was finished the baur were removed and carried to the "bush," and the
turtle was eaten. I was informed that these baur were not shown to the Miriam le\
at all events none of the latter were able to explain their use to me, when I showed
them the baur in 1889. The ceremony was confined to the Dauar le.
1 Cf. Vol. v. p. 184.
MAGIC.
215
Each board (pi. XXI. figs. 11, 12) had carved upon it three human faces, Ida op, in
low flat relief, these were connected by a beading. In the case of the kimiar baur, or
male board, the lowermost face was connected by a beading, baur gub ', with a turtle,
Fio. 34. Decorated zogo baur at the head of a turtle.
nam. In the kosker baur, or female board, the lowermost head was similarly connected with
a terpa (a variety of clam, Tridacna, or the rock oyster). The male board is 3'35 m.
(11 ft.) high, with an average breadth of 15 cm. (6 in.); the female board is 3 m. (9 ft.
1 A fish spear, baur, is sometimes employed in catching turtle ; gub is a waterspout. Among the Western
Islanders it is believed that spirits employ waterspouts, baiu, as their spears for catching dugong and
turtle (Vol. v. p. 359, figs. 75, 78). These two boards were evidently analogous to the two baiu boards employed
in Pulu for a turtle ceremony (Vol. v. p. 333). The words of the song are also of western origin.
216 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
10| in.) high, with an average breadth of 19 cm. (7£ in.). The carved turtle had a small
rounded hollow, on, between the front flappers, and a larger egg-shaped one, bub, or plastron,
in its centre. The undecorated ends of the boards were inserted in the ground.
For ceremonial use (fig. 34) the human faces were painted with yellow ochre, siu, the
hair, eyes, and mouth were painted in their natural colours, the clam shell and turtle were
also painted yellow, the hollows being filled up with black beeswax. The headings were
painted red and the background of the boards was blackened. Their sides were decorated
with various human bones, such as ribs, clavicles, fibulse, etc., but haunch bones (ossa
innominata) preponderated, and with shells, more especially the white cowry (Ovulum) ; all
the bones and shells were painted red. Between these were inserted bunches of cassowary
feathers, and by the side of each face projected, in an upward direction, a pair of the long
tail-like erections of cassowary feathers so often worn in dances. The apex was crowned
with the red plumes of the common New Guinea bird of paradise (Paradisea raggiana).
A nose ornament was inserted through the perforated noses and a dogs' tooth necklace was
suspended below each face. Two long ropes were fastened by one end to the top of each
baur.
I obtained this information in Mer in 1889 after the two baur had been brought thither
by Mr Robert Bruce, who found them hidden in a cave in Waier. Mr Bruce gave them
to the Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow. The photographs were obtained through the courtesy
of the General Superintendent, Mr J. W. Paton.
Siriam nam zole.
I obtained the following information from Ulai concerning the siriam nam zole.
It is an irregular block of vesicular lava (pi. XX. figs. 9, 10), one end of which is
rudely carved to represent a face. The stone measures 220 by 185 mm. It was kept
in the " bush " and it caused floating turtle to come to the sand beach. When a turtle
had been caught the man hopped twice round the turtle counter-clockwise, held his
paddle with both hands, and said : " Parema dibira guda dara awasalgulba sirisalgulba."
The first two words mean " Parem people " in the dialect of Mawata, New Guinea ;
other words seem to be gud, month, wasal, dancing, gul, canoe. As in the previous case
these songs are composed of western words.
Waipem.
Close to the northern side of the southerly point of Waier is a black stone about
38 cm. (15 in.) in length, which now lies broken in the grass on a heap of stones
and shells at the foot of the cliff (pi. I. fig. 4). It is called Waipgm and represents
a man, but it is very shapeless, a little pit on each side of the head indicates an eye.
The zogo le used to erect in front of the image three bamboos, two vertical and one
transverse, T7-wise; on the cross-bar were hung various kinds of fruit, abal (Pandanus),
sbbe (Eugenia), etc. as a present to Waip?m and 'man think inside himself/ "If we
give you plenty fruit, I think you give us plenty turtle." They then went to the two
points of the island to look out day and night for the turtles which would be sure
to come. This little ceremony was said to take place only in January. Probably this
is what Mr Hunt refers to when he states, " When, at the close of the season, turtles
were scarce, some of the natives from all the villages met at Waier and offered presents
of food" (Journ. Anth. Inst. xxviil. p. 8).
MAGIC. 217
Dugong Charms.
Dugong were not plentiful among the reefs in the neighbourhood of the Murray
Islands, owing to the scarcity of the marine grass upon which they feed ; as a consequence
of this there is an absence of ceremonies connected with the dugong, such as those
of which I obtained traces in Mabuiag (Vol. v. p. 339). The dugong came only during
the south-east season. Wooden charms were however employed to entice the dugong
as among the Western Islanders (Vol. v. p. 337) ; these were small, carefully finished models
of dugong (deger) carved out of hard wood, which were suspended from the narat, or
platform, from which the dugong were harpooned, " to make him come straight." In
1889 I was informed that the Waier le and Areb le wore the deger as ornaments
("belong flash") suspended from a necklace; but .this is not likely to have been the
real reason.
As will be seen from figs. 5 — 8 on pi. XX. the carving of the deger was admirably
done, many have an orifice for suspension at the nose (fig. 5) or on the under side of the
head, as in fig. 8. They varied in length from about 14 to 18 cm. ; 15 — 16 cm. being
usual lengths. Fig. 8 is 182 mm. in length, the grooves are marked with red paint, except
those of the eyes, which are blue; this well carved specimen is in the Cambridge Museum.
Figs. 5 — 7 are in the British Museum.
Fish Ghn,rms.
A large piece of curved stratified volcanic ash projects from a cairn on the beach
at Er (pi. I. fig. 1). This represents Sorkar, who is referred to in the Malu legend
(footnote, p. 42). His function is to ensure abundance of tup, the small fish that
comes inshore in shoals at certain seasons. Should boys throw stones at Sorkar the
tup will be driven away from the shore. This information was obtained from Enoka
(Er, 18 A).
The zab zogo is a small shrine consisting of one or two clam shells resting against
a rounded boulder on the shore of Waier. The zab is a small fish, like paris (gar-fish,
Belone), which is caught from canoes by night, being attracted by flaring torches.
Images of fish carved out of stone, usually the fine-grained volcanic ash, were
frequently used by the Murray Islanders. These were called lar, the general name
for fish, but they were also called after the particular fish which they were carved
to represent.
Numbers of lar (pi. XX. figs. 1, 2)1 were painted red and placed in rows on the
ground near a house2, and between them were placed shoots of the coco-nut palm and
" bushes " ; this was done to ensure that large numbers of fish should be caught in
1 These specimens were given by Mr B. Bruce to the Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow. I am indebted to
the General Superintendent, Mr J. W. Paton, for a photograph of them.
2 Perhaps this was a case of homeopathic magic, the man's house being equated to the stone walls of
the mi.
H. Vol. VI. 28
'218 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
the fish-weirs, sai, that enclose large areas on the reefs on the eastern side of Mer
(pi. II. figs. 1, 2). The specimens respectively are 130 and 152 mm. in length.
PI. XX. fig. 3 is a broken specimen of a giois (a small species of fish) obtained from an
Ulag man, who described it as zogo. It was ' made good,' i.e. prepared in some way and
placed in a canoe in order to cause a good take of fish. The borders of the eyes and opercula
are deeply cut and painted red, the teeth are indicated by alternate red and white oblique
grooves. It measures 80 mm. in length and 95 mm. in height.
PI. XX. fig. 4, an ovoid, flattened piece of vesicular lava, rich in hornblende, 25 cm. in
length, which has somewhat the form of a fish, was called garom (an edible grey fish with
brown spots). It was kept in a garden at Mei and rubbed with coco-nut oil to make fish fat,
and was said not to be a zogo. This specimen is evidently very old ; at the broader end there
is a V-shaped groove which represents the gill opening behind the opercula, the head has long
been broken off.
Lewer mog.
Lewer mog (a piece of food) is a pale greenish-yellow, mottled and pitted lump
of resin, a small piece of which was chewed with wauri lukup and spat on the bow
of a canoe to bring good luck in fishing, more especially when diving for large white
cone shells, wauri. I do not know what plants were employed in the medicine, lukup.
Lag zogo, for Control of Mosquitos.
During the months of the north-west monsoon, and especially in December, mosquitos
are very plentiful on Murray Island, and the people firmly believed that they were
produced by the lag zogo le. Whether the zogo le does or does not still carry on
his rites (although he is credited with so doing), he certainly does not appear in public
with his body painted in the old style. Lakop, which is close behind Zomared, is
the headquarters of the lag zogo ; an explanation of this is given in the legend of the
ti birds (pp. 8—10).
If a house was pestered with mosquitos the owner knew that the zogo le was
displeased with him.
The friendly fanning visits, to-tuam, which are paid by the members of one village
to another during the mosquito season, are described in the section on Social Customs
in Vol. iv. When the to-tuam is finished the natives hie to the lag zogo le and beseech
him to send the mosquitos away. They are not very particular as to the time, but
when the mosquitos eventually depart the zogo le gets the credit of having banished
them.
The mode of removing the pest by means of this zogo is very similar to the
other forms of zogo. The zogo le takes the kernel of an old dry coco-nut, chews it
in his mouth, and blows the masticated nut over the stones surrounding the water-
hole at Lakop, repeating an incantation (zogo mer) at the same time ; or he scrapes
the kernel into a coco-nut shell, mixes it with water and expresses the milky fluid
(oil and water), with which he anoints the stones while uttering the zogo mer.
MAGIC.
219
The coco-nut oil and water is called sabid, and seems to be greatly used in all zogo
ceremonies.
The zogo le (fig. 35) had transverse white lines painted all
round his arms, legs and body and across his face. The paint
was made from burnt shells and the lines represented the grey
bands on the mosquito, the white stripes on the face repre-
sented the head of the mosquito. A head-dress of leaves with a
plume of black cassowary feathers pointing backwards completed
the original decoration of the lag zogo le. The natives admit they
now have another fashion since clothing has been introduced ; when
Mr Bruce saw Kud ("Captain Brown"), the late zogo le, he wore
a short petticoat of banana leaves ; but formerly the lag zogo le
had no covering, indeed, at that time all the men were nude, and
it was only in connection with certain ceremonies that a dress of
some sort was worn. Kud had the reputation of having great
influence over mosquitos.
The last zogo le that openly officiated were three brothers
named Arago, Kud and Aii1; the office was hereditary. This family
owned a large tract of land extending from Baur to Umar and
from Deiau to Gigo. At present Pasi (27) holds one part of Aii's
land, Ulai (4 c) another part, and many other individuals have
obtained portions by making such claims as that one of the
brothers promised it to them or wanted to adopt them, for the
natives are never at a loss for an excuse when desirous of claiming
a piece of land. The consequence of this is that the share of the
rightful heirs to this once large estate is now considerably curtailed.
They left no children, as Arago and Kud were unmarried and the
three children of Aii all died young. Gasi was the father of the
three zogo le, and his land, which extended from Beaur to Zomared,
was inherited by Arago and Kud. Natoro of Zomared, who was
a bachelor, adopted Aii, the youngest of the three brothers, and
when Natoro died Aii was heir to his land, which consisted of
Zomared and another large piece that extended from Deiau to Gigo.
As Aii was adopted out of his own family, he did not inherit
land from his father Gasi. Aii, as adopted son of Natoro, was
his heir and took precedence as such over any of Natoro's blood
relations (pp. 163, 164).
Sirar-sirar zogo, for Terns' Eggs.
This is an irregular, truncated, triangular, pyramidal block of granitic rock, 187 mm.
long and 115 mm. high, which was kept in a melon shell (Melo diadema) in the bush.
It ensured a plentiful supply of the eggs of the tern (Sterna Bergii), but its power
could be inhibited. For example, if a number of men went to a sand-bank to collect
sirar eggs and left behind one man who much wanted to accompany them, he would
Fio. 35. La.
a drawing
:g zogo le, from
by J. Bruce.
1 Unfortunately this family is not recorded in the genealogies, having died out.
28—2
220 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
go to the stone and pour water over it, and, as a consequence, the other men would
not find any eggs.
Babelu (13 A) spoke of an ebur wer (bird's egg) at Weget, which was associated
with the sirar-sirar ; he said it was not zogo.
Mokeis, for Destruction of Garden Produce by Rats.
Mokeis or " rat " is a small piece of vesicular lava rudely carved on one side to
represent a rat's (?) head (pi. XIV. fig. 3); it measures 118 mm. by 97 mm., the features
are emphasised by white lines, the incised lines being painted blue. It was kept hidden
in the bush inside a pair of large clam shells. When it was desired that rats should
eat the fruit, yams, or sugar-cane of someone else's garden, the owner opened the valves
of the shell. The specimen was obtained from Ulai.
Tabu, to prevent Rats from destroying Bananas.
I obtained from Jimmy Dei an irregular oblong piece of vesicular lava, showing
vesicles elongated in the direction of the flow, which is about 25 cm. long and 11 cm.
high (pi. XIII. fig. 1). It was supposed to resemble the head of a tabu snake, and,
as snakes prey upon rats and mice, he kept it in his garden to prevent rats from
eating the sopsop (a bunch of bananas wrapped up while growing on the tree).
MAGICAL PRACTICES TO CONTROL HUMAN BEINGS.
Love Charms.
Various devices were employed by the Torres Straits Islanders to attract the
attention and stimulate the passion of women and girls by men who had taken a
fancy to them. Some of these devices were examples of homoeopathic magic (see
Vol. v. p. 327), but all of them relied on the subtle associations of scent. I cannot
say whether any of the scents so employed have any direct stimulating effect, but,
should any scented object be worn by a young man when he desired to influence a
girl, there can be no doubt that suggestion alone would act powerfully upon the latter ;
thus kog lukup, or sexual medicine, would of itself be potent even if other practices
were not employed. The power of words and the projection of the will were also
greatly believed in by the natives. The Waiet zogo appears to have been an erotic
cult (see Religion).
When the young men wish to scent themselves in order to please the girls, they
chew kusi bager (Kaempferia galanga), kera kera (also the root stock of a zingiberaceous
plant) and kiaki kiaki (I was informed this was a root like kera kera, but the kiaki
of Mabuiag, which was also used as a love charm, is Polanisia viscosa, Vol. v. p. 328)
and mix the chewed roots with the water of a green coco-nut in its own shell. The
mixture is poured all over the body and rubbed in with leaves of the kosor tree,
which also has a scent. If the girl whom it is desired to attract is in a house, the
young man goes quietly to windward of it ; when the girl perceives the scent she looks
out to see who it is, and if she is pleased with the youth she goes out to him.
MAGIC. 221
Kog lu, or Omabar kog lu.
Mr Bruce sent me the following information. One omabar kog lu is a piece of
black lava carved into the form of a man's penis1. When a young man was enamoured
of a young woman he procured certain plants and dried them, then he burnt them and
preserved the ashes which he put into a small shell, mixing them into a paste with
coco-nut oil. This kog lu was anointed with the paste, kog lukup, and wrapped up in
6m warn2. He also anointed himself on each temple and thought as intently as possible
about the girl. He continually prepared the paste and wished hard until he had
obtained his desire. He repeated the following kog mer to himself whenever he saw
thet girl :
Sagaro3 ai* bamege ! Sagaro you come !
Waba bamege ! You you come !
Sio bamege ! Sio you come !
Pikaro bamege ! Pikaro you come !
Bamege ! bamega ! bamega ! You come ! you come ! you come !
He also touched or flicked with his right index finger each temple that had been
anointed and called out Uleka5 ! The girl could not resist, but was bound to go to
him. When a young man went to a dance or to any meeting at which women would
be present, it was customary for him to prepare his kog lu* and place it in his belt,
right upper-arm band, or in the arm-guard on his left arm. When he saw the girl
he fancied he performed the foregoing operations.
I obtained from Ulai an imperfect, rolled up, old New Guinea belt, marek, which
was wrapped round a piece of scented mar root, 125 mm. long, and a red wada bean
(Mucuna) (pi. XXI. fig. 7) ; the whole was worn by a man as a love charm.
Certain flattened, round or oval stones, omabar (pi. XXI. figs. 3, 4), were employed
for a similar purpose. Fig. 3 is a worked stone, probably a porphyritic lava, 62 by
.59 mm. Fig. 4 is a natural, flat, water-worn pebble, 31 by 26 mm. One man said
they belonged to neur madub. A carved omabar, 3 cm. long, of foreign stone (pi. XXII.
fig. 6) looks like a phallus, and also resembles the birobiro zogo, pi. XIII. fig. 3.
Some omabar or kog lu are supposed to be more powerful than others, each family
considering theirs the most effectual. They are handed down as heirlooms from father
to son.
1 One of these omabar is shown in pi. XXI. fig. 5, it is 65 mm. long. I collected it in 1889 and gave
it to the British Museum.
3 Bisi warn, the shredded leaves of the sago palm, was always used for this purpose, being considered
more efficacious than anything else as it was the material from which women's petticoats were made.
3 Sagaro (Sagaru or Sio) was Sida's New Guinea wife, Vol. v. p. 29 ; Pikaro (Pekari, p. 20, Peker, Vol. v.
p. 29, Pakar, v. 32) was the Zagareb beauty with whom he fell in love.
4 Perhaps aie, the Western, Come !
5 The natives explain this word as equivalent to the phrase, "You always look at me"; it is derived
from the Western ulaika, "to go along" or "for going along." Mr Bruce adds, "the kog mer like all their
other formulas are not in the Murray dialect, but korkairam lera mer, "words of the Kulka people" (cf. Vol.
in. p. 6).
6 Mr Bruce sent me a packet of kog lu (pi. XXI. fig. 8) in which the bisi warn is partially enclosed in a
leafy wrapper ; it contains some masticated root of the kusi bager (Kcempferia galanga). He says " this custom
originated from Said and Pekara" (Sida and Pekari, p. 21).
222
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
Neur madub.
The neur madub is a wooden image of a nude girl (pi. XXI. figs. 9, 10). If a man
liked a girl who would have nothing to say to him, he
obtained a neur madub, tied round it certain scented
leaves, pas, a scented bark, paiwa, from New Guinea
(probably of the sandal wood tree), and kera kera ; these
he put in a basket which he carried about with him.
One informant said it acted as a compelling love
charm ; but another said that it caused the girl to " go
along with plenty men," and that she became "crank."
The neur madub was made by a maid kem le, or maid le
(sorcerer), who gave it to the lover after teaching him
what leaves to gather and how to apply them. The
latter paid the maid kem le in work or goods.
PI. XXI. fig. 9 is a fairly well carved representation
of a young girl I collected in Mer in 1889. It is 345 mm.
high, has a nano user, or breast scarification (p. 155) and a kip
user immediately above the buttocks, the latter scarification
resembles the former, but it is doubled. Fig. 10 is a similar
tieur madub which I obtained at Erub, though it was said
to have come from Masig, it is 215 mm. high. Both
specimens are in the British Museum. A description of
the scarification on these images will be found in Vol. I.
A neur madub (fig. 36), 215 mm. high, was cleverly
carved by Gobai of Warvve (16 c) in hard wood to represent
a deformed man named Abos (? 1), who used to walk with
his left arm behind his back, the hand clasping the right
arm.
FIG. 36; Neur madub.
Maid. (C. S. MYERS.)
Harmful magic or maid was recognised as justifiable in cases of anger and revenge
(maid urkerlam) and in cases of adultery (maid koskerlam). It was used by any
Murray Islander upon another: indeed the practice still survives. Jimmy Dei (4 B),
the police sergeant, offered the following example of maid urkerlam. If one man
fought and beat another, and beat perhaps several of the latter's brothers besides,
then " people would talk " and the reputation of the vanquished family would suffer.
Thereupon, one of the injured, having called his brethren together, would say, " Good
thing we make maid this man." They would await a favourable opportunity, either in
the day-time when he might be working at his garden, or by night when he would
be strolling in solitude along the sea-shore.
Maid, as practised in the day-time, will be first described. Having found his
adversary in the bush (i.e. his garden), the avenger took a chance stone from the
MAGIC. 223
ground (commonly of oval shape and about three inches in length), and uttered some
magic words, or zogo met; in a half whisper, so that his victim might not hear.
Once or twice he spat on the stone ; finally he hurled it with great force at the back
of his enemy, who thereupon fell down senseless, breathing heavily. The assailant and
his brothers quickly approached the prostrate body and belaboured it with their clubs
" until he half dead. No good a fellow hit him too much. He no want kill him
altogether." Then they rubbed the man's body with a mixture of herbs (pewer
(Dracaena), pas (a scented plant), kepsabo, and coco-nut oil, to remove the marks from
his body. They placed his bush-knife beside him and left bananas and coco-nuts for
him to eat. Finally, while he was still unconscious (" he know nothing "), they told
him that he was to go up a coco-nut tree and to fall down from it, breaking his leg,
or that he would one day be bitten by a centipede, which would cause him to "swell
up all over so he dead " ; or perhaps it would be told him, " Suppose you go that
point, Kiam, or that point, Umar, you go home, you dead."
The sorcerers, maid le or maid kem le, having uttered their spell, retired to a short
distance and made use of further zogo iner to bring back life to the body. Their
attention was fixed on the hair of the skin. " Suppose devil (spirit of life) go inside,
hair he come out (stands erect). Suppose devil he go out, hair he go down." The
man's first deep inspiration was anxiously awaited. " They think he all right now.
They wait, wait, wait. He breathe again. He slew round (turns about). He lie down.
By'n'by he breathe again. He slew round. He can't say nothing. He thinking about
himself. ' What the matter me ? ' Eye belong him look round. ' I think I fall down
one tree.' He find him knife. He get up, walk about all same sick. He take banana,
take coco-nuts and knife. He come home."
His assailants followed him at a distance. One of them picked up a small stone
and threw it so as to hit a tree near the crippled man, or they clapped their hands so
as to make a hollow sound, at the same time hissing with their mouths. " He say,
' What thing that ? ' He no think about him sick. He come strong. He run, run,
run. He go home, see woman belong him. He sing out, ' You makey (prepare) me
bamboo-pipe. I go smoke.' He smoke. He all same dead now. By'n'by he say,
' You give me water.' He drink. He go sleep. He no tell woman belong him, no
time. Inside belong him all right now. By'n'by he tell woman he go up coco-nut
tree. Medicine make him go up. He no go up himself. He go up coco-nut tree.
He fall down, break his leg. By'n'by he die. Perhaps he bitten quick by centipede ;
then he die. Man can't cure him. Put him medicine, he no cure him. Perhaps he go
Kiam, he go Umar. He come back ; two days, he dead." Thus surely worked the spell.
The procedure was very similar at night-time. Instead of a stone, an omaiter (a
long spear closely resembling the common dugong-harpoon, or wap) was hurled at the
man. (Figs. 37 — 40.) He was hit by the spindle-shaped end, in which was a small cavity
containing lukup, which consisted of leaves of the sarik pas (lemon grass, Andropogon) and
the very pungent bulb of a zingiberaceous plant kera kera. When unconscious, he was
rubbed with a mixture of sea- weeds (pager, dam (Cymodocea)) and sea- water, and was
given sea-water to drink.
In the above account free use has been made of the picturesque language, in which
it was originally narrated by Jimmy Dei. It is noteworthy that, although Mr Bruce
224
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
has met many men under the influence of maid, he has never seen upon their
bodies such marks of injury as could be caused by the blows of a club or of a stone.
His long experience leads him to believe that the victim's mind is so overwrought by
brooding over the vengeance which his enemy is known to owe him, that all the
consequences are simply imagined. There can be little doubt that imagination has an
extraordinary influence over these and other people. The surgeon of Thursday Island
goes so far as to attribute the mortality of Chinese after major amputations to the
severe depression set up by the supposed eternal loss of a limb. Similarly, according
to Mr Bruce, Murray Islanders have died merely from the fear of another's power of
sorcery. The approach of a man reputed to possess the power of magic has been known
to break up a merry party of dancers and to send strong men pale and panic-stricken
to their homes.
FIG. 40.
FIG. 38.
FIGS. 37, 38. Upper and side views of the head end of two omaiter or maid wap, in the Cambridge Museum.
The incised contours of the tree-frogs, goai, and the body of the centipede, isi, are red, most of the other
incised lines are alternately red or blue. The grooves at the beginning of the shaft in Fig. 38 are a tally
of the number of persons injured by the implement. The total length of each omaiter is about 4 m. (9 ft.
9| in., and 9 ft. 8 in.).
FIG. 39. Upper, side and under view of the head end of an omaiter, formerly in the possession of Mr B. Bruce.
FIG. 40. Broken-off head end of an omaiter; 24cm. in length. Collected in 1889; British Museum.
Not every man is credited with the power of killing by maid. Some enjoy a higher
reputation than others in this respect. The maid le are not confined to any particular
MAGIC. 225
local group. Their powers are thought to be inherited by their recognised heirs, to
whom the mysteries are imparted. No islander will admit of himself that he has magic
power, but from time to time he " charges " his fellows in the court house with working
maid upon him. He is doubtless kept from adultery and other wrong doing by the
belief that they are capable of exercising such spells. In 1889 Mr Haddon obtained
a kupe, or bundle of tallies, which belonged to Ebui (Baton's brother, Areb, 15), each
stick of which was said to indicate a person injured by an omaiter. It is now in the
Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford.
The limits of hypnotic suggestion seem to forbid the view that the subject of maid
is thrown by the maid le into a hypnotic state, during which some mode of an early
death is suggested to him.
According to Mr Bruce, when a man had been attacked in the bush by the maid le,
he ran home, filled with fear. On arriving at his house, he immediately called for
coco-nuts to drink, in order to assuage his intense thirst. Then he lay down to die,
telling his friends the maid le had attacked him. He complained of pain in his back
and refused all food. He lost all heart and generally died within two or three days.
His friends would never think of demanding medicine for him from a European, as
that would be going against maid. They refrained from mention of maid until he
died. They then consulted among one another as to who had caused the death. They
decided upon some one who had been at variance with the deceased, and if he in
turn became ill or died it was attributed to maid.
Mr Bruce knew of one case in which the man who was supposed to have caused
a certain person's death was a hundred miles distant at the time. On his arrival at
Murray Island he was tried but the chief was afraid to punish him. However, he
did not live long ; his death was also attributed to maid. Then his friends retaliated
on his supposed murderer ; and so it went on, until at the time of writing four men
had died, all of whom were reputed to be powerful workers of maid, and to be able
to do anything in the way of secret killing. Such individuals, of course, were greatly
feared by the rest of the people ; but as they died off, others always cropped up tc-
fill their places. The Samoan teacher of that time was a great believer in maid and
wanted the maid le to be apprehended and sent to prison on Thursday Island. The
insistence with which he made these demands did not tend to lessen the natives' belief
in the power of maid.
The reputation of certain individuals for working maid persists. Not many seasons
ago, Idage (Werbadu, 21), who is now a policeman in Erub, blighted all the coco-nuts
on Mer, before leaving for his present position. More recently, Barsa (20), a Beizam
boai, and a policeman of Mer, stroked his moustache or made some similar motion
while a dance was in full swing at Christmas time. Mr Bruce says that the meeting
instantly broke up, many of the men shaking with fear, some older men being so
terrified that he thought they would have died. ,
Mr Bruce says that belief in maid acts as a deterrent against adultery, for should
a man commit this crime he is in continual fear of being killed in this manner by the
husband he has wronged or by his friends.
H. Vol. VI.
29
226 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TOREES STRAITS.
Kamer tonar, or End lu.
This method of malevolent magic could be done by anybody, although it was
practically confined to the Zagareb le and probably was originally confined to them,
who, by the by, claim knowledge of most of the zogo. It was performed in secret
and had a great hold upon the imagination of the people. Its object was to cause
disfigurement of the face or even death.
Kamer is a reddish powder, which is eaten by serpaki flies, that is found in rotten
drift wood from New Guinea. When a man wished to perform this magic he hunted
along the coast for some of this wood, and when he had found it he very carefully
scraped the poison with a broken arrow into the cavity of a small bamboo stem,
burar, held at arm's length, and he took care to stand to windward of it, since his
nose might be destroyed or his life endangered should he smell it or should some
of the powder be blown in his face. Some took the precaution of covering their
face with a banana leaf, and the bamboo was best held by a string. The man then
covered it up and carried it very carefully to his home and hid it in a secret
place. To render it yet more efficacious, nem sus was also added to the Kamer; this
was described as " red stuff on top of coral," a small piece, about 25 mm., was broken
off and put in the bamboo (probably this was decomposing coral polyps). Also the
scraped kernel of jettisoned goa nuts, after it had rotted, was added to the kamer.
When the man wished to use it he took the midrib of a coco-nut leaf, dipped
it in the poison and thrust it into a piece of yam or other food, which he gave to
the individual he desired to destroy. This was generally done as the result of a
quarrel, but the food was not offered until the parties had apparently become friendly
again, or until the victim had forgotten about the affair. The food might be given
to the wife, who was told not to eat it but to give it to her husband. When the
victim was ill, the other man would bring food to him so as to disarm suspicion.
When the kamer was used on food, the person eating it was affected in the throat
and mouth, this form was called te aroaro. One informant said it kills women by
burning their throats, but it did not affect the men in this manner.
If anyone was jealous of a good-looking man or woman, this revenge might be
employed, but in that case the stuff was placed on the face close by the nostrils,
when the victim was asleep, by means of a waumer lub (feather of the frigate bird).
The nose was first destroyed, then the throat, finally, as one informant put it, " he
short of wind and he die." This form was called op araparap or pit aroaro. The
Zagareb le were supposed to be exempt from external disfigurement, as it only affected
them internally.
Kamer was very effective in deterring people from robbing gardens ; very little
theft occurred from gardens of those who knew how to prepare kamer, but the gardens
of those who did not know this art were robbed without mercy. When bananas or
other food stuff were ripe, the man was supposed to secretly prepare kamer and to
doctor the food. As the thief was not certain which tree had been poisoned he was
afraid to risk it and so left the food alone.
Another method was to prepare a crocodile's tooth with kamer and bury it in
MAGIC. 227
the road along which the victim would pass, in which case he would be affected
with the disease in the feet or legs.
Gasu (Ulag, 12 B) and Ulai (Sebeg, 4 c) were credited with a knowledge of
kamer, but the latter was not a Zagareb le. Marau (15 B) is supposed to have been
punished in this manner with his disfigurement because he put the sacred Malu mask,
Zogo Malu, on his head.
End lu aber.
Mr Bruce states that the Zagareb le had also the following method of killing
people. A sea-slug called erSkj (Dolabella scapula, one of the Aplysiidse) is found in
Torres Straits on the reefs, which emits a purple fluid. One of these sea-slugs is obtained,
prepared with incantations and wrapped up till it decomposes, it is then placed at
night time at the entrance of the house where the victims are sleeping. When the
latter come out in the morning they drop down on the ground quite helpless and
soon die ; one informant said the stench knocked them over. Old men have informed
Mr Bruce that once at Sebeg they saw a whole houseful of young men fall down
in this manner on coming out of the house, dropping over each other in their terror.
The man that prepared the charm had the power of arresting its action by
pronouncing another incantation.
The term end lu aber means " deadly thing beche-de-mer " ; aber being the
general name for Holothurians, but the erSko is zoologically a mollusc.
Kesur eumida tonar, Shell-turtle Poisoning.
On the 20th of March, 1896, three infants, aged from 8 — 11 months, were attacked
with vomiting and died in a few hours after sucking from their mother's breast, each
mother having previously eaten some boiled flesh of the shell-turtle (Chelone imbricata).
An enquiry by Mr Bruce into this occurrence led to the following information.
It is not customary for the Miriam to eat this turtle, though they say the other islanders
to the west do eat it ; but Macgillivray (Vol. n. p. 10) states that " the hawksbill turtle and
its eggs are forbidden to [Muralug] women suckling " (Vol. v. p. 270). If the Miriam have
a grudge against any person and they are out fishing and find a shell-turtle, they do not
spear it, but they tell the turtle to go straight to the person with whom they are at
enmity, and they say to the turtle that only a particular person or members of his family
are to eat it and no others. The turtle' swims to the place where that individual
generally fishes. That person sees it, and the turtle makes no struggle but allows itself
to be caught. The person cooks and eats it, but the charm does not allow him to give
any part of it away. He dies and so does whoever of his family eats of it. When the
turtle is in the sea it is invisible to everyone except the man, to whom it was sent and
he does not know it is a shell-turtle.
29—2
228
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
Saibri lu, or Kadal lu.
The " crocodile-thing " (saibri lu, or kadal1 lu) is made in the form of a crocodile
and must be carved out of wood from the enau (Mimusops Browniana) or sirisap tree.
FIG. 41. Maid le operating with a saibri lu, after a sketch by Mr J. Bruce.
The sorcerer prepares it by wrapping the head and neck with damereb fronds (this
tree is like the sago palm) ; he next inserts the snout into a crocodile's tooth. A
string is plaited of damereb leaves, one end of which is fastened to the tail and the other
to the head of the crocodile. When he wishes to operate with it he anoints it with
ager- sap, and at low water he takes it to the north-west side of the island where coral
is plentiful on the reef and inserts into the tooth a substance called nem sus ; " this
is a thick, brown, leathery, flower-shaped substance that is found growing among the coral,
and is considered to be very poisonous when inserted in any way into the body" (Bruce).
After having prepared the saibri lu the maid le visits the place where his victim
lives, and with a great deal of posturing he points the model and a " spear3 " at the
person or the house (fig. 41), uttering an incantation, and in order to make it potent he*
must, at the same time, earnestly think of the person's name. The zogo mer are :
1 I have here adopted Mr Bruce's spelling, Mr Ray prefers kodal; saibri is probably the correct Miriam
name for the crocodile, sibara is the Kiwai word.
2 Mr Bruce speaks of this as a tree; the only ager with which I am acquainted is an aroid (pp. 6, 9).
s Mr Bruce says "a spear," the only spears I know of are fish-spears and dugong-harpoons, an arrow is
drawn in fig. 41.
MAGIC.
229
Into body go go !
Into hands go go!
Into head go go !
Gamui mabal mabal !
Oitaia mabal mabal !
Kokoea mabal mabal!1
(repeated)
The sorcerer then goes home and hides the charm in his thatch. The charm is
supposed immediately to bring excruciating pains on the victim. The crocodile's tooth
causes vomiting, coughing and choking, as it is supposed to stick in the victim's gullet
and to be continually turning round. The victim's body is racked with pain and sores
break out on his body, which gradually cause his death.
FIG. 42. Saibri lu-
Fio. 43. Koilal.
The saibri lu is also placed in gardens to keep thieves from stealing the crops, for
if a thief walks over the ground where this ceremony has been performed, or where the
charm is supposed to l>e secreted, he will suffer from all kinds of running sores and
eventually die unless the charm is counter-spelled. This can be accomplished in two
ways : a banana leaf is folded up and filled with water and (1) the charm is either
broken up and the fragments dropped into the water, or (2) it is simply washed with the
water; this makes it inoperative and the stricken person immediately begins to recover.
This is a very effective deterrent against thieving and is much practised. Gasu (12 B) is
considered very powerful in this kind of maid and his services have been frequently
employed. The foregoing information was obtained from Mr Bruce.
Mr Bruce sent me two specimens of a saibri lu : one (pi. XXI. fig. 2) was made of
soft wood, the upper part only is painted red except the head which is red all over; it is
also decorated with one tuft of feathers at the nape of the neck and another on the tail.
It is 49 cm. (19J in.) in length. A reddened model of a crocodile's tooth accompanied it,
and is shown in the figure. The other (fig. 42) is of hard unpainted wood, 363 mm. (14£ in.)
in length. Fig. 41 is after a sketch by Mr Bruce illustrating the manner in which the
maid le holds the charm and the arrow, the man is represented in the former nude state,
with his hair in ringlets, ed.
Fig. 43 is a representation of a crocodile roughly blocked out of a twisted piece of
hard wood, 31 mm. long. It was said to have been brought from Kiwai. I could not
discover for what purpose it was used, it may have been a saibri In, but it was simply
called " kodal" ; the crocodile is a Kiwai totem (Vol. v. p. 189).
1 Mr Bruce says that the 20170 mer were in the dialect of the Gumu le, i.e. of islanders to the west,
Masig, Waraber, etc. The Mabuiag equivalents would be Gamuia, Getia, l;nil;i<i HIIHJXI.
230 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES "STRAITS.
Waridub maid In.
One form of magical apparatus consists of a staff, maid lu or maidilu (magical
object), carved at one end to represent the head of a large hawk, waridub. The
FIG. 44. H'ttridub maid lu.
specimen illustrated by fig. 44 was made by a sorcerer, maid kern le out of taul wood ;
it belonged to Masak (Sebeg, 4 c), and the information concerning it was obtained from
his son, Ulai. Masak was a maid kem le and belonged to the Beizam boai.
The maid lu was wrapped round with leaves and sprigs of babud, ibam, watu
(Homalonema), ager and gobagoba. A leg bone of a man was roasted and scraped
and the powder wrapped in a banana leaf, then roasted again and rubbed over the
waridub, as well as over a crocodile's tooth which was tied with damereb (pp. 228, 231)
to the collar behind the hawk's head. Probably tufts of cassowary feathers were inserted
in the square holes of this region. The name of the person to be injured was
mentioned over the maid lu, which was finally placed in an evil-scented ager (pi. VI.
fig. 7) in the bush. The patient was intended to have an accident such as dropping
some burning wood on his foot, or running something into himself, " then sore he
come, medicine no cure." If this happened Masak would say, " Ulloa, me make him
that thing," and the man would recover should he remove the crocodile's tooth from
the maid lu, and immerse the latter in the sea, but probably any water would suffice.
FIG. 45. Waridub maid lu, or Hawk-headed sorcery stick.
I collected a waridub maid lu (fig. 45) in Mer in 1889, which I gave to the
British Museum ; it is 70'5 cm. in length. The hawk's head has a white face, with
yellow mouth, the back of the head and the ring round the eye and face are black.
The carving at the other end is white, but the three grooves are yellow. There are
five rows of incised triangles on the top of the head.
Isau mani.
When someone has a grudge against another he employs a maid le to kill or
torture the individual by excruciating pains by means of an image of a man or
woman, as the case may be, carved out of zemar wood and coated with beeswax,
isau mani; or the maid le may do this on his own account.
After the mani is prepared the maid le goes to the person's house secretly in
the night-time. If the victim to be operated upon should be sitting beside the fire
outside the house, as is generally the case, the maid le takes the figure in his right
MAGIC. 231
hand, points it towards the victim, and strikes tragic attitudes by raising his legs
and steps as if he were walking on his toes, pointing the mani towards the victim
and repeating the following incantation all the while, the words of which assist in
furthering the injury he wishes to inflict:
Mama noli. Thou stay there.
Ma tabakeam ! Thou come !
Ma, tabakeam ! Thou come !
Dudum, — ma tabakeam ! Quick, — thou come !
Ma bakeam Beigem! Thou go to Beig1.
Or it may be rendered : " This is you yourself here (Tom), You come ! You
come! You come quickly! You go down below (or "you go under the earth")."
" Quick — you come " is given in an imperative tone of voice, with a long pause after
the " Quick."
When this ceremony is finished the maid le presses the figure to his breast,
covering it with his arms, as if to preserve it from injury, and hurries to his own
house with it. He places it in the thatch of the roof directly over where he keeps
his house-fire burning. The heat of the fire gradually melts the wax, and as it melts
the victim, whom the mani represents, begins to sicken and waste away. When the
maid le wishes to cause pain to his victim, he takes the figure down and pricks
the ankles, knees, and elbows with the point of the spines of a sting ray; or employs
small thorns, geseker, taken from the vine of the ketai tuber; or he uses the fin-
spines, gibra seker, of the gib fish, which are very poisonous. He usually kept on
this torturing for a long time. Finally, if he wished to kill the person, he took the
mani to Umar pit2, twisted off the head and threw it and the body into the sea ;
in this case the victim was sure to die.
Should the maid le, or his employer, have again become friendly with his victim,
before having had recourse to the final ritual, the maid le went through another
ceremony, employing a counter-spell to take away the destructive power that he had
put into the mani, and then he destroyed the latter.
It is not necessary that the maid le should see his victim when he goes to put
a spell on him, the pointing of the mani towards the house, within which the victim
is, being sufficient.
Mr Bruce, to whom I am indebted for the foregoing account, kindly had two isau mani
made for him (pi. XXII. tigs. 1, 2), which he presented to the Cambridge Museum. Fig. 1
is a representation of a man, 305 mm. (about 1 foot) high. It is black3 all over, with
a red line at the insertion of the hair ; the mouth, hands and navel are also red. The
necklet of the mani should have been made from the frond of the damereb tree, which is
obtained from New Guinea (this is evidently the damap of Mabuiag which is also imported
from New Guinea, and employed for an analogous purpose, Vol. v. p. 198, fig. 28). Cassowary
1 Beig, or Beg, is the place supposed to be underneath the island and the sea and is the resting place
of the spirits of the dead when going to or returning from the island of Boigu, their real home.
- The spirits of the dead dive down to Beig at Umar pit, this being the most westerly point of MIT.
3 The wax, mm, obtained from the nest of the small wild black bee, is quite black in colour.
232
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
feathers were used in the model as damereb was not procurable. The necklet gives choking
pains to the victim. The band round the waist is made of the same material and is
employed to cause pains in the abdomen. The eyes of all mani are represented by spirula
shells (idaid, this is also the name of the nautilus), they are supposed to cause pain by
screwing or boring into the eyes of the victim. The ridge, mus dari, on the head is a
sign of mourning (p. 153).
Fig. 2 is a representation of a woman, 266 mm. (10i in.) high. It is black all over,
has a leaf band round the neck, and a bisi petticoat is tucked up between the legs as
a sign of widowhood (p. 157, fig. 19). The image is so made as to indicate the sex of the
victim.
Madub.
A madub is a wooden image of a man which makes men " crank." Several men
may own one. When required for use it is decorated with feathers
and wrapped in leaves of certain plants ; two pieces of bamboo
are lashed to the trunk of a tree and the madub placed between
them.
A madub makes people shake as if they had malarial fever,
and appear as if they were drunk. A friend would lay hold of
a man in this condition, place him on the ground, pour fresh
water on his chest and on his back, between his shoulders, and
force him to drink some ; the patient " can't speak, mouth he fast."
The madub represented in fig. 46 is carved to represent a
man with but a single leg whose hands are clasped over his chest.
It is 19 cm. in height. There are traces of red paint on the face
and in the grooves bounding the arms, the chest is reddened.
Paiin zogo ; to render a person insane.
The owner of this zogo has the power of making people
permanently or temporarily silly or insane. Mr Bruce says this
has been practised on many people, but they do not consider it
a calamity when anyone is so afflicted. Certainly there is no bad
case of insanity amongst the Torres Straits Islanders generally,
most of those whom he has seen on the islands who are not
quite normal, may be described as of weak intellect.
Fl°- 46
Werer a gem kerar tonar zogo ; to make one hungry and lean.
The zogo that makes people hungry and lean consists of a small cairn of stones
and shells which is situated at the western corner of the Government reserve or garden
at Umar. The zogo le here carried on his practices secretly, and all we know is, that
he touched the stones when he desired to make the people of a village hungry or
lean. Then these people were affected with extreme hunger, and, no matter how much
MAGIC.
they ate, they always felt hungry and their flesh began to waste away, although their
strength was still retained, unless the ban was continued too long. The flesh-wasting
is called gem kerar. Dysentery is another result of the zogo. Misoa (Baur 1 A) and
Tibi (Baur 1) are the zogo le.
There are certain seasons, such as April and May (after the north-west monsoon,
or turtle season), when the people are in poor condition, and also about September and
October, owing to food being scarce. They are at their best at the turtle season,
and when new garden produce • is ready.
When Mr Bruce was clearing the reserve for a garden he could not get the
children actually to touch the zogo shells or stones, but they carefully wrapped leaves
round each stone or shell before removing it. I too have noticed precisely the same
dislike of directly touching certain sacred stones, and when such were brought to me
for sale they were carried carefully wrapped in leaves.
Constipation zogo.
The zogo of Wiwar in Dauar, when properly prepared has the power of causing
constipation, and the person affected will die if the power of the zogo is not taken
away by cleansing it with sea-water, placing a leaf of a gebi tree on the stone, and
pouring water over it. The zogo consists of a round boulder of sandstone about the
size of a pumpkin. The zogo is prepared by the zogo le placing his excreta on the
stone and uttering an incantation in which he mentions the name of the person he
wishes to injure. According to Mr Bruce old Lui (2G A) is the only living man who
knows how to prepare the zogo. An old woman named Gibra (15 c) was believed to
have met her death recently through passing close to this zogo ; shortly before she
died her friends visited the zogo and found it had been prepared, but by that time
it was too late to perform the counter-charm.
Wiwar.
A wiwar, or zole, was a natural or more or less carved stone which was employed
in nefarious magic to make people sick or to kill them, but most frequently it was
placed in a garden in order that it might do harm to anyone who stole from that
garden, in which case no one could feel aggrieved if the wiwar performed its function.
I was given the following suppositious example. If a man's son got ill and he told
his father he had been stealing, the latter went round to the old men to make
inquiries; when he came to the right man he said "My son come along here?"
" Yes, he come to my garden." The father would reply, " Very good you put thing
belong you (meaning the wiwar) in the sea." The man whose garden had been robbed
would take the wiwar and put it in the sea, and the boy would recover when the
stone became cold. Another account is given in my informant's own words. " Zole
stop in bush, man he keep him in bush. Another man he sick ; someone think,
'I think zole make him sick.' All [I do not know whether these were the friends of
the sick man only, or if, as is more probably • the case, they were his friends and the
owner of zole] take young coco-nut and split him over zole and sick man all right."
H. Vol. VI. 30
234 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
Apparently it was only necessary to cool a wiwar by wetting it with water of any
kind to bring about the recovery of the person who had been made ill by the stone ;
in the latter case the water in the young coco-nut had the desired effect.
The following wiwar were natural stones : pi. X. fig. 9, an irregular, truncated, triangular
pyramidal block of granitic rock, with rounded edges; 187 mm. long and 115 mm. high.
Fig. 10, an elongated rounded boulder, larger at one end than the other, a granite or
syenite porphyry (probably a granophyre) ; 203mm. long. Fig. 11, a rounded conical stone
with a flat base, of igneous rock; 140mm. high. Fig. 12, a rounded oval boulder of
foreign rock; 126mm. long. Fig. 13, an irregular lump of pyromeride, or nodular rhyolite,
more or less completely converted into jasper (this class of rock is always extremely ancient
and is usually of Archaean age), this is an uncommonly fine geological specimen and like
all the foregoing rocks is foreign to Mer; it measures about 185 by 150mm. The wiwar
in the British Museum (pi. XXVIII. fig. 3) is an unworked granitic boulder, with several
natural crescentic grooves, it is somewhat pyramidal in form with a triangular section ; 21 cm.
high.
A carved wiwar, obtained by me at Dauar in Dec. 1888, is also in the British Museum.
It consists of a piece of pumice, 11 cm. long, carved to represent a human face (pi. XXVIII.
fig. 4) ; a small hole is bored in the top of the head, and a wide V-shaped groove is cut
in the back. It was used for producing sickness.
Uris kerem (pi. XIV. fig. 2) is the head of a female green turtle (Chelone mydas),
realistically carved in fine volcanic ash, 304mm. long. It was called a zole, but was said
not to be a wiwar; one informant called it a zogo lu. It was kept in the bush, and
prepared with medicine, puripuri, for the purpose of making people ill.
Doiom, for malevolent Magic.
Azo (Ulag, 12), a former deacon, is, according to Mr Bruce, very powerful at
working magic with a doiom (cf. p. 201), and gained the credit of killing many men,
women and children from Korog to Sebeg. His first wife quarrelled with him, her
father and mother assisted her and spoke angrily to Azo. He went to Ulag and took
a doiom thence to Korog, where he made a zogo; immediately afterwards his wife
died, then her father died, and also nearly all the people as far as. Sebeg. By this
time the Ulag men thought he had obtained ample revenge and besought him to
bring the doiom back to Ulag, which he did, and the sickness immediately stopped.
Magical Objects of uncertain Use.
Owa lar (pi. VII. figs. 1 — 3) is the most elaborate stone carving that I have seen in
Mer, it is a fairly accurate model of the skull of a fish (perhaps that of a fish, lar,
called gwa, of which I have no record). It is about 46 cm. long and 31 cm. high, is
carved out of a large block of coral (Porites) and is painted red, white and blue, a native
has painted on it GUALAR. There is in the National Museum at Washington, U.S.A., a
ruddled skull of a fish (pi. VII. fig. 4) from the Andaman Islands which bears a very
close resemblance to the Miriam effigy. I am indebted to Professor Holmes for this
photograph which Dr G. A. Boulenger, of the British Museum, has identified for me as
MAGIC.
235
a member of the family Carangidse or Horse-mackerels, probably it is a Seriola. The
species of this genus are often called " Yellow-tails," some grow to a length of from
122 cm. to 153 cm. (4 — 5 ft.), and are esteemed as food.
I have no doubt that the Miriam artist endeavoured to represent a skull of a similar
fish. The use of this object could not be discovered, but I was informed it was kept in
a banana garden, probably it was originally a fish charm.
I saw at Mei a representation of a daurner, or Torres Straits pigeon (Carpophaga
luctuosa), carved out of fine grained volcanic ash and realistically painted, but I could not
obtain any information respecting it.
A head with very long teeth, carved out of vesicular lava (pi. VII. fig. 6) is a fragment
of a zole which came from Las. It measures 145 x 125 mm.
PI. XII. fig. 9, a flattened ovoid piece of volcanic ash with incised lines representing
a human face, 185 mm. long. It was termed a zole, but no further information was obtained ;
it was found, together with a burnt and broken Cassis shell, on the top of a large rock at
Kimkop or Kingob.
PI. XIV. fig. 4, is a nearly circular plano-convex piece of lava carved with a central boss,
three concentric circles and five bands that radiate from the second circle to the outermost one.
The boss is red, the two inner circular grooves are white, the ridge between them is red, the
outer border of the second circle is red bounded by white, as are the five radiating grooves ;
the third, or peripheral, circle is red and is not grooved. The stone measures 255 x 235 mm.
in diameter.
Fio. 47. Ziai near.
There are two pieces of rude sculpture representing Ziai near, "South-west girls," in
Eid's (Ormei, 25 B) garden at Damud in Dauar, which are carved out of vesicular lava
(fig. 47 and pi. XIX. fig. 4). I was informed that when a man had a "bad sick" the
owner was asked to prepare the " zogo" ; this he did by wetting the images with the fluid
of a green coco-nut, and the patient would recover. One informant said they were wiwar,
in which case the illness would probably have been caused by the effigies. Mr Bruce
has, however, since informed me that there is no zogo connected with them, neither are
they attributed with any healing powers or with doing anything, so far as he could
ascertain. No one seems to know their history, or where they came from, they only
30—2
236 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
know that their forefathers revered them and therefore they are lu babat, a term which
may be best translated as "ancestral objects." Another Ziai neur has already been
described on p. 56, this has been definitely identified by Mr Bruce and he states it is
supposed to be one of the Ti neur referred to in the story of Markep and Sarkep.
Jukes describes and figures (Voyage of the Fly, I. p. 185) a reddened wooden female
image that he saw at the village of Kerriam in Erub. It was 168 cm. (5 ft. 6 in.) high,
ears and arms were wanting but there were holes for their insertion ; a conventionalised
petticoat was carved round the waist. " Just before it on the ground were several old
large murex-shells, and behind it was arranged a series of split cocoa-nut shells, in a
semicircular form." I showed this picture to some Miriam men who called it siriam,
and they told me it had the power of leaving its place and depositing itself on the
beach, and if any Miriam le went across to Erub, it was buried out of sight. A Nagir
man told me it was an augud connected with a kwod and associated with maid, he said
that before going to fight they sang about augud', the figure was not put in a canoe
lest it should capsize.
Therapeutic magical Processes.
The practice of a father bathing in the sea in order to assuage the labour pains of
his wife was mentioned on p. 106. It is evidently a case of contagious sympathetic
magic, as the husband by cooling himself in the water is supposed to reduce his wife's
temperature and render her more comfortable. The soothing and cooling effect of vicarious
bathing in the sea as a means of alleviating pain and sickness is also seen in the practice
of immersing sorcery stones, wiwar, in the sea to cure a victim of maid (p. 233).
Nam zogo.
According to the account given to Mr Ray by Arei and Pasi (Vol. III. p. 247), when
people wanted to enlist the help of the nam zogo (p. 51) in averting sickness, they
proceeded as follows. First of all the women plaited a basket, and the men said they
would see nam zogo the following day. A great quantity of garden produce was collected
and brought to the nam zogo ground as a present for the zogo le. Those who brought
the food chewed the sweet-scented lemon-grass (Andropogon nardus), 'went up to the
house in which the zogo were, and asked the three zogo le to make ready. The three
zogo le opened the door of the house and swallowed spittle (probably they too had
been chewing the lemon-grass). One zogo le took the basket which had been prepared
for the occasion and all three entered the house. The zogo was placed in the basket
and the mouth was fastened by a skewer. One man held the basket by one lip and
another by the other lip and, bringing it outside the house, placed it on the ground.
The food was piled close by. A number of men stood around the basket and the
zogo le told them to remove the skewer from the basket : the zogo le moved aside
so that the men could see the nam zogo. The zogo appear to have been first anointed
with the water of a green coco-nut and immediately afterwards with turtle oil. The
zogo were first watched by one zogo le and then by two. A flat place was prepared
on the top of a tree on which the zogo le placed the nam zogo. They put white
MAGIC. 237
heron feathers on the hands and feet (presumably of the nam zogo). The consultants
said to the zogo, "Do not bring this sickness to us." The men bathed in the sea.
They (probably the zogo le) did something to their bodies1 and returned the nam zogo
to their house.
Kekuruk.
The general Miriam name for medicine-men was lukup zogo le ; but only the
Zagareb le could practise kekuruk. All the patients who desired this treatment were
taken to the village of Ulag (or Wao), but should their complaint be such that it
was necessary for them to undergo a thorough course of kekuruk they and their friends
would be housed and fed there. Mr Bruce was informed that a house at Ulag was
reserved for the use of patients and their friends, but he is not certain about' this
and suspects they have concocted this from what they have seen of the hospital in
Thursday Island ; but no doubt they did get sleeping accommodation, as they are very
hospitable to one another. Ordinary patients required to be operated upon but once
or twice ; sometimes a patient would remain as long as three days and was treated
twice a day, morning and afternoon, but in stubborn or chronic cases the time might
be extended to several days.
The friends of the patient interviewed the kekuruk le to find out when he could
receive their sick friend and operate on him. Should he think it advisable to accept
the patient he appointed a day, which was generally the following day, but he could
decline to have anything to do with the case.
The friends carried the patient, or took him by canoe, to Ulag; they also took
food with them, not as payment to the kekuruk le, but to supplement the food they
would receive at Ulag ; this was piled round a bamboo inserted in the ground. The
kekuruk le saw the patient, questioned him concerning the nature of his sickness, and
then arranged when the ceremony was to begin, the time being usually in the morning
or afternoon. The kekuruk le had an assistant called arsei le who helped him in
various ways and acted as a messenger between his master and the patient's friends;
for after the kekuruk le had an interview with the latter, it was considered unpro-
fessional for him to give orders direct.
The kekuruk le prepared his own medicine with the exception of scraping up the
kernel of a coco-nut which was done by the arsei le. He collected leaves of sem
(Hibiscus tiliaceus), roots of kusi bager (Ksempferia galanga), and stems of sus sus (an
Euphorbia that grows on the sand-beach). The arsei le provided a very small green
coco-nut, gadu, which contained water but no kernel, the top of the nut was cut off
and replaced to serve as a lid. All these were carried down to a spot a few yards
in the bush, at a distance of about a hundred feet from where the patient was to
be placed, and arranged in order on a large banana leaf.
The arsei le scraped with a shell the kernel of an old matured coco-nut and put
the scrapings on a banana leaf, these he took to the kekuruk le and rubbed them
1 The original is very obscure here. Probably it should read: The 2030 le undressed the bodies of the
zogo (i.e. took off the feathers) and returned the nam zogo to their house.
238 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
all over his body. When this was concluded the arsei le was told to go to Ulag
to fetch the patient and see that he was placed in the proper position.
The patient was conducted to the sand-beach at Lewag pit and the arsei le
directed the friends where to place him. They heaped up sand to form a slightly
raised pillow for his head ; his feet being turned in the direction from which the
kekuruk le would approach they should be kept close together, but if he was too
weak to accomplish this, they were tied together. The spaces between the big toes
and the second toes are called teter pone, or feet eyes, and constitute an essential
element in the ceremony, as the kekuruk le must on no account take away his glauce
from these two spots, for whatever he did he must look steadfastly through these two
openings between the toes or there would fail to be a cure. If the patient was too
sick to be left alone, his brother or other near relatives lay on the sand to serve as
a cushion for the sick man's head.
As no one might see the advance or actions of the kekuruk le, the patient and
his attendants if there were any, closed their eyes, and the arsei le, the friends of
the patient, and all other men, women and children retired to Ulag. " Kekuruk le
no make him sick man good, suppose other fellow see" (Myers).
When the kekuruk le knew all was ready he emerged from the bush carrying the
medicines on the banana leaf, which he placed on the beach at his feet, standing some
distance from the patient. He slowly picked up some sem leaves, chewed them, spat
the juice into his hands, which he rubbed well together and spread the juice all over
his body. Then he chewed the kusi bager and sus siis together, spat the juice on his
hands and began to make movements as if he were anointing the sick person. All
the time he stood he made passes with his hands over his own body and, as it were,
wafted the influence towards the sick person. Now and again, he brought his hands
to one side of him and, standing on the opposite leg, worked his arms and the free
leg with an up-and-down movement, and then he chewed some more medicine and
again repeated this ritual of movement. The high stepping movements of the legs and
the motions of the body are stated by Mr Bruce to have been very graceful and
suggested the idea that the kekuruk le was about to dance. The kekuruk le took
sips from the young coco-nut, taking care to cover up the aperture with the lid. As
he did this he squirted the water and juice of the chewed plants from his mouth
towards the patient in little puffs of spray, but he was careful not to let the patient
hear any sound ; indeed he made no noise whatever during the whole performance,
which lasted for nearly half-an-hour. This must have been an awesome experience for
the patient, who was prohibited from opening his eyes all this weary time. Meanwhile
the kekuruk le never took his eyes off the teter pone. When he had to pick up his
medicine from the banana leaf he never looked down ; and when he was supping from
the coco-nut he was careful to hold it on one side of his mouth so as not to obstruct
his view. These were the only ungraceful acts in the ceremony, all the other movements
being carried out with leisurely ease. Finally he lifted the medicine off the banana
leaf with his left hand and took the leaf in his right, posturing and making passes
over his own body and towards the patient. Sometimes he worked himself up into
a frenzy, passing his hands down his arms or legs as if he were trying to pull some-
MAGIC. 239
thing off which was resistant, but which finally glided off the finger tips and was
wafted towards the sick person. The movements then made were like an attempt to
pull off a very tight-fitting garment or glove. The expression of his face showed
evident relief when the action was seemingly successful.
When he had finished making the passes he removed the banana leaf, coco-nut
and medicines to the bush, all the while keeping his eyes fixed on the patient's feet,
and never ceasing to posture. As soon as all the apparatus was placed out of sight,
and he himself was hidden in the bush, he clasped his hands and steadily made a
vertical sweeping movement with them before his face and brought them down to his
right side, then clapped them, and called out in a loud strident voice " Sirar ! Sirar ! ' "
The patient sometimes fainted at the close of the ceremony. On hearing the cry
of the kekuruk le, the arsei le and the friends of the patient ran up to the latter
and assisted him, or carried him to the sea where they bathed him. The patient was
fed at Ulag, were he able to eat.
The arsei le then went to attend on his master and removed the appliances; after
the kekuruk le had bathed in the sea he was supplied with food by the arsei le.
The kekuruk le then visited the patient to ask him if he were better ; should this
not be the case, he was informed he would be required to go through another course
in the afternoon ; but if he were better he took up his sleeping-mat and went home.
According to some accounts obtained by Dr Myers, the kekuruk le rubbed the
invalid down with a mixture of sem, kusi bager and sus sus prepared with coco-nut
oil; but most of his informants agreed that the purpose of the visit was merely to
enquire into the patient's health and to take food with him. One man declared that
the sufferer, however ill, became well and that no repetition of the treatment was ever
necessary. Another maintained, " Sick man he all right little bit. He make him all
right easy. One day he more strong, another day he more strong. He no get well
one day. Kekuruk le come along beach in morning, he come along afternoon, that
one day. Next day he come along all same, he see sick man, he say 'Sirar,' he rub
sick man four times, s'pose him no well. Kekuruk le he ask sick man, ' How your
body? How your sick?' Two day, sick man say, 'I no feel bad now, I feel fine.'
Arsei le, he look out for (i.e. waits upon) kekuruk le, time kekuruk le stop there.
No good kekuruk le cut anything. S'pose he cut him garden, he no make man good2.
Arsei le, he cut him."
The kekuruk le was paid only according to results. No cure, no pay. Should he
have been successful in making a cure, the patient assisted by his friends made presents
of what were considered as valuable articles, such as bows, arrows, spears, boars' tusks,
or ornaments; very little food was given.
When the kekuruk le was about to perform, notice was given to the people, and
the sick person's friends took particular care that no one witnessed the ceremony, for
1 This is termed sirar mer or sirar abger (tern-talk or tern-call). "Sirar sirar" is the cry of the sirar,
a tern (Sterna Bergii). This bird is supposed to have the power of taking away sickness; it is not revered
in any way, as the natives will kill and eat it like any other bird.
2 This taboo on cutting anything whilst engaged in curing a patient is an interesting example of
sympathetic magic.
240 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
should anyone see the operator the cure would be spoilt, and the looker-on was liable
to contract the disease. A dog or other animal passing between the operator and
patient would nullify the cure. These were some of the safeguards for the kekuruk
le, for if the patient did not recover, he asserted that some nog le, stranger, looked
on and thus caused the persistence of the disease or even the death of the patient.
The kekuruk le was invariably a Zagareb le and he was connected with the u zogo.
The office was passed on from father to son or heir. The arsei le was also a Zagareb le,
and a relative of the kekuruk le ; he may be regarded as an apprentice to the latter.
He generally took the place of his master when the latter was too old to operate, for it
required a strong, lithe man to carry out the ceremonies.
Waleba of Zagareb (whose name unfortunately is not recorded in the genealogies)
was a famous practitioner of former days, and had the reputation of having brought back
to life many persons who had been given up as dead and whose spears, clubs and other
treasures had been broken up according to custom (p. 159). Gasu (Ulag, 12 B), who was
at one time arsei le to Waleba, is considered a very powerful kekuruk le. Mr Bruce
has seen Gasu go through the performance and he considers it the hardest form of work
ever undertaken by a Murray Islander ; at the end of his posturing, and other labour, he
was bathed in perspiration and thoroughly exhausted. The kekuruk le had no special
dress or ornamentation, but was nude, as were all the other men before the advent of
the white man.
There was no connection between maid and kekuruk. All local groups had their
maid le, who were reputed to possess the power of inflicting diseases and of curing
those they had injured. Even the kekuruk le might be a maid le, but in his capacity
as kekuruk le he was more in the confidence of the people as a true physician, since
he was not engaged in curing what he had himself induced.
This is the nearest approach to hypnotism that we heard of in Torres Straits ; but
it should be remembered that the patient had his eyes closed during the whole of
the operation, and there is no indication that he exhibited any hypnotic symptoms,
but it was certainly a treatment by suggestion.
By far the greater part of this account is derived from information supplied by
Mr Bruce.
XIV. RELIGION.
BY A. C. HADDON.
THE term "religious" is applied in this memoir to those actions which depend for
their efficacy upon appeal to, or reliance upon, something which is extrinsic to the performers
or to the objects employed (p. 193). This non-human influence is usually of a more or
less personal nature, and is approached by means of words or ceremonies, and operates
through a ceremony or object, or directly on the petitioner or those in whom he is interested,
or it accomplishes those aims which he desires. The extrinsic influence can also act
on its own initiative. Usually an emotional relation is established with this extrinsic
influence or power. Under this heading are also placed those rules of conduct and
avoidance, the breaking of which is liable to punishment directly by extrinsic powers or
indirectly through their human representatives. Finally, I have not hesitated to place
morality in this section, although, so far as I am aware, it has no extrinsic sanction in
Torres Straits with the sole exception of the displeasure of ghosts or spirits when their
surviving relatives have not been fairly treated (pp. 127, 252).
PAGE
Some Religious Conceptions of the Miriam 241
Taboo 246
Morality 250
Ghosts and Spirits 251
Totemism ...... 254
Ancestor Cult 258
Omens ....... 259
Divination . . . .261
PAGE
Beizam 269
Dogai 271
Cults with Initiation Ceremonies . .272
Meket Siriam Zogo 273
Meket Sarik . ... 274
The Waiet Zogo 277
The Bomai-Malu Cult . . . .281
Mythical Beings . . . . .314
SOME RELIGIOUS CONCEPTIONS OF THE MIRIAM.
Nothing is more difficult than an attempt to discover and interpret the religious
ideas of an undeveloped people, and I cannot profess to have succeeded in my efforts
in this direction among the Miriam.
Regard is very generally paid by nature-folk to an object which has been associated
with a parent, or an immediate or even a remote ancestor. This regard is probably
primarily one of personal affection, but it becomes merged iuto an appreciation of age,
which passes into a reverence for antiquity — not perhaps so much on account of the
H. Vol. VI. 31
242 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TOERES STRAITS.
mere age of the object as for the associations which have been transmitted in con-
nection with it. These compound sensations are undoubtedly experienced by the peoples
of whom we have adequate information, and we find that they are not lacking from
the Miriam, the two terms lu babat and ad representing two phases of this conception.
Lu babat.
The Miriam describe as a lu babat anything, valuable or otherwise, which is revered
on account of its having belonged to an ancestor. Thus, a drum or a personal ornament
which has been handed down from generation to generation is termed lu babat. Similarly,
anything pertaining to local folklore is lu babat, for example Gawer (p. 28), Barat (pp.
40 — 42), Irado (p. 51), and the Ziai neur (pp. 56, 236) are not zogo, but, as the forefathers
of the present Miriam revered them, they are lu babat. I do not understand the meaning
of the term, at first sight it looks as if it might signify " father's thing," but this phrase
would be abera lu in the ordinary Miriam , baba is used for " father " in the vocative only.
Ad.
The word ad signifies something old and traditional with the idea of a sanctity
that is associated with ancient wont, thus certain folk-tales are ad, or anything about
which such a legend is told, and all sacred and magical stones are ad.
Belonging to a more complex series of ideas are the words zogo and agud, both of
which have a distinct relation to the religious life of the natives.
Zogo.
In order to gain some definite conception of the meaning of the term zogo, which
is so very much in evidence in the beliefs and usages of the Miriam, it will be necessary to
briefly compare the objects for, and the occasions on, which it is applied.
Rain is the zogo of the larger group of the Zagareb le (pp. 195, 196), but the stone
images, down, that were employed were not zogo, though the sentences spoken when
preparing them were zogo mer (p. 198).
Particular objects were zogo such as Nauareb zogo (p. 210), the zogo baur (p. 214),
the sira-sira zogo (p. 219), the turtle-shell effigies of the nam zogo (pp. 51, 213). The
zogo object may be kept on a zogo ground like the birobiro zogo (p. 211), but it is not
always easy to determine whether any particular object is a zogo ; or whether the spot
itself, which may be termed a shrine, is zogo ; or whether the whole operation, including
the objects employed, is zogo, probably the latter is the most usual conception ; examples
of this are found in the wag zogo (p. 201), enau zogo (p. 202), Sewereat u zogo (p. 206),
kaba zogo (p. 207), zab zogo (p. 217), and the lag zogo (p. 218).
As a rule the zogo were employed for useful purposes, such as the meidu zogo for
tabooing gardens (p. 248), but the object of the paim zogo (p. 232), werer a gem kerar
tonar zogo (p. 232), constipation zogo (p. 233), and uris kerem (p. 234) were in each
case of a malevolent character. The Waiet zogo was certainly partially anti-social
so far as our limited information is concerned. Of a divinatory character were Tomog
zogo (p. 261) and certain (perhaps all) prepared skulls, more especially those which were
associated with the Bomai zogo (p. 267). The Bomai-Malu zogo were collectively
RELIGION. 243
a socialising religious factor in the life of the people. The Meket zogo (pp. 273, 276)
was connected with war.
All the zogo belonged to definite groups of individuals and only certain men officiated
at the zogo, these were termed zogo le, and the office appears to have been hereditary l-x
in particular families, passing from father to eldest son. According to Mr Bruce a general
name for a " medicine man " (sorcerer) is lukup zogo le.
Unfortunately we have very little information as to the ceremonies connected with
the various zogo, but I have given all I could ascertain in the account of each zogo.
The usual phrase in describing the ritual is zogo ikeli ; ikeli is a transitive verb with an
inanimate object (Vol. HI. pp. 66, 70), signifying "one makes one thing1" (Vol. in. p. 77).
Doubtless in every case zogo mer, "zogo words," are spoken. It is very remarkable that,
according to Mr Bruce, it is only in the case of the recently devised enau zogo (p. 203)
that the Miriam language is employed2. He informed me that the zogo le employ a
foreign language and thus can only guess at the meaning of the words of the songs and
zogo mer ; but as a matter of fact, he added, this does not seem to trouble them at
all, since they are as earnest in using the sounds in their ceremonies as if they fully
realised their meaning. The language employed is broadly speaking that of the Western
Islanders, but in most cases the words have become so modified that it is impossible to
translate them. It is quite possible that some of them at all events may belong to an
older form of the western language than any of the existing dialects, and further it
must be remembered that we have insufficient knowledge of the languages of the central
islands of Torres Straits. Associated with the western origin of the zogo mer is the fact
that so many of the natural and worked sacred stones in the Murray Islands are of
foreign origin, and there can be but little doubt that the majority of these must have
come from the western islands ; they could not have come from Erub or Uga as these
have the same volcanic origin as the Murray Islands, nor could they have come from
the central islands as these are merely vegetated sandbanks ; Yam then is the most
easterly island from which some could have been exported. Mabudauan hill, on the
mainland of New Guinea, is a mass of granite, at least 150 ft. high, and it is, I believe,
the only block of exposed rock, not only near the coast, but for a very considerable
distance inland, and therefore we cannot look to New Guinea as the source of these
foreign stones, neither is it at all probable that they came from North Queensland.
To return to the zogo mer — a definite request or prayer was offered at Tomog zogo
(p. 263) and at nam zogo (pp. 51, 237) ; so far as I could learn, the actual zogo of the former
was a small cruciform stone, while the latter consisted of two turtle-shell effigies of a
male and female turtle ; but in the case of Waipem (p. 216) an offering of fruit was
made to the rude image of a man in the hope of success in turtle-fishing, the unspoken (?)
1 Mr Bay has drawn my attention to the analogous Lifu expression nyi haze, " make haze." A haze
could be any object whatever which had been nyi haze (endowed with supernatural power; of. Melanesian,
mana) by the ite tens haze (persons possessing the power of haze). These persons, usually aged, received
rewards from chiefs and people for exercising their powers. A ghost or departed spirit was also sometimes
called a haze, and Roman Catholics used the word for " God." There are some analogies between zogo and mana.
• Mr Brace's knowledge of the natives is so extensive that we must accept his statement as being
substantially correct ; but it must not be overlooked that the gali wed (p. 196) and the doiom zogo mer
(p. 198) of the rain-making ceremonies, and the zogo mer employed at Tomog zogo were in the Miriam language.
31—2
244 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
sentiment of the zogo le, in this instance, may be regarded as of the nature of a prayer.
The irmer gali, addressed to the irmer zogo, were distinctly prayers (p. 196), but the
zogo mer uttered when a doiom was being prepared were of the nature of statements.
The zogo of Bomai and Malu were prayed to (p. 281).
The preparation of a zogo had to be carried on secretly, and respect had to be
shown towards it. We read in the folk-tales that Maiwer (p. 46), who scolded the nam
zogo (who were described as like mar or lamar, that is " ghosts " or " spirits "), was
punished with an appropriate death by turtle at the instigation of the zogo ; Terer (p. 31)
was killed by the zogo le for beating a drum, which action disturbed them when they
were " making " a yam zogo, and it also showed a lack of respect for the zogo ; and in
the Malu saga we are told, " This fellow is a zogo, we can't cut him up " (p. 34). I
was informed in 1889 that, " Miriam no eat Beizam, he zogo belong we." Marau (Mad,
5), who is still living, was disfigured by a disease that destroyed his nose as a punish-
ment for sacrilege in entering the pelak and putting on the sacred Main mask, zogo
Malu (p. 227). The Bomai and Malu masks were so sacred that only the initiated
might see them. The following incident bears this out. I persuaded Wanu and Enoka
to make cardboard models of these masks, as the originals were destroyed long ago.
One evening Enoka brought them to me very carefully covered up. Next morning I
incautiously showed them to a woman who happened to be about ; later in the day
Enoka came to me in a great hurry and besought me not to let any woman see them,
and, of course, I respected his wish. The ceremonies had not been held for about a
quarter of a century, the people are all Christian, and yet even now a woman may not
see cardboard models of the sacred masks. Although Gabi (Ulag, 12 c) owns the Malu
drum, " wasikor" (pi. XVII. fig. 1), he dare not beat it, probably because he has never been
initiated ; during the rehearsals we had of the ceremonies the drum was always beaten
by Gasu (Ulag, 12 B), who can be seen holding the drum in fig. 1, pi. XXVIII. Gabi
would not sell the drum at any price. The initiates were warned under penalty not
to divulge the secrets of this cult (p. 311).
It was only in cases where the zogo consisted of perishable effigies (pp. 51, 213) or
masks (p. 289) that they were contained in a hut, to which the special name of pelak
was applied.
,/ When anything behaved in a remarkable or mysterious manner it could be regarded
as a zogo (pp. 33 — 38).
So far as our information goes the following were not regarded as zogo : ad giz
(p. 258), doiom (p. 194), bager (p. 202), sokop madid} (p. 207), the two Dogai masks
(p. 209), love charms (p. 220), or fish charms (p. 217). I think that maid proper (p. 225)
was not regarded as zogo, but zogo mer were said ; some malevolent shrines were 20(70
(pp. 232, 233).
From the foregoing enumeration it is evident that rain, wind, a concrete object, or
a shrine can be a zogo ; a zogo can be impersonal or personal ; it belonged in a general
way to particular groups of natives, but it was the particular property of certain in-
dividuals, the zogo le, who alone knew all the ceremonies connected with it and therefore
the rites were confined to them ; the " making " of the zogo was usually more or less
secret, and in no case might women be present ; the zogo was always treated with
RELIGION. 245
great respect and sacrilege was punished, either by human or by spiritual means. I
do not know how the term can be better translated than by the word "sacred." A zogo
may therefore be a sacred object or place, the rite was sacred, as were the words'
that were uttered. The aspect of the natives towards any zogo was most distinctly
religious. Naturally corresponding to the idea of sanctity was the recognition of sacrilege,
when anything was done which was contrary to the rules and regulations of the zogo.
We must be careful, however, not to carry the idea of sanctity too far, for the zogo le
were not sacred men, they were merely the "zogo men," those who alone had the right
to perform the ceremonies ; as no idea of sanctity was ever associated with them, so far
as we could discover, they cannot be regarded as priests. As there was always a great
difficulty, usually an insuperable one, in learning the zogo mer, it is justifiable to regard
them as being sacred. The term zogo is usually employed as a noun, even when it
might be expected to be an adjective. Mr Ray (Vol. in. pp. 55, 56) points out that
adjectives are derived from nouns by reduplication; in his vocabulary (Vol. in. p. 165) he
gives " zogo-zogo, a. sacred, tabu, holy." Personally I have only once (p. 286) come across
that word and I am informed by Mr Ray that it was introduced by the translators of the
Gospels, who also employ the term zogo le for " priest " and zogo meta for " church."
Agud.
The word agud is not of frequent occurrence, it was described to me as the " big •
name of big zogo." The nam zogo was called agud (p. 51), as were Bomai and Main and
their masks (pp. 282, 286). Among the Western Islanders the word augud was primarily ,
used to denote a totem .(Vol. v. pp. 2, 153 — 186, 367 — 378), but when hero-cults became
general the scope of the term was enlarged to suit the new ideas. In Mabuiag, Kwoiam was
designated as adi (Vol. v. p. 67), and occasionally he was spoken of as augud, but no record
of him or of his emblems occurs as a totem in the genealogies of the people of Mabuiag
collected by Dr Rivers (Tables 1 — 15 B, Vol. V. p. 120). In the Muralug group of islands he
was regarded as the "big augud'' and the "augud of everyone in the island" (Vol. V. p. 80).
Two crescentic objects made by Kwoiam were also called augud (Vol. v. p. 71). Sigai and
Maiau, the two heroes of the Yam-Tutu people, who belong to the same cycle as Bomai,
were prayed to as " augud " ; their turtle-shell effigies in the form respectively of a hammer-
headed shark and a crocodile (Vol. v. p. 376) were also called augud. We may safely conclude
that these heroes and objects were termed augud, which as we have seen is the same name <
by which a totem was called, because the natives did not know by what other sacred name
to call them. It is therefore not surprising that a very important zogo, such as the nam i
zogo, which consists of effigies of two turtles, or the masks employed in the Bomai-Malu cult
should be termed agud, which is the eastern equivalent of the western augud. But there
is no satisfactory evidence in the Murray Islands of the term agud1 having been applied
to a totem, and we have no evidence whether it is an indigenous or borrowed word.
1 In looking over some unconfirmed notes obtained in 1889, I find the following entry: Harry (Zaub, 2)
and Mapa (? Las, 14) belonged to saibrl (crocodile) zogo ; Paai (Giar Pit, 27), Oadodo (Las, 14) and Torik
(? Toik, Warwe, 16) to beizam (shark); Baton (Areb, 15) and Mamai (Warwe, 16) to tabu (snake) 2030. In any
case Pasi and Toik are Beizam boat. I have also this memorandum, "Agud = Malu, Nam zogo, Lewer zogo,
U zogo, Kaba zogo, Omai, Beizam," which suggests that there was a recollection that these had once been
equivalent to the western augud or true totems. I suspect that certain zogo were originally totems.
246 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
TABOO.
Gelar is the equivalent term of the western sabi and may be best translated by
taboo. The word sab is also frequently employed in the Murray Islands for the same
idea ; I am unable to say whether this term has been introduced from the west, or whether,
as is more probable, it is a word common to both groups. I have nothing to add to the
general remarks I made on this custom in Vol. v. pp. 269, 270 ; the conditions being the
same for the Miriam as for the Western Islanders.
The system of taboo was not at all marked among the Miriam in ordinary affairs.
The taboos for women apparently were mainly of an alimentary nature (p. 105). The
marriage restrictions have been detailed by Dr Rivers (pp. 121, 122). The most
, important taboos were those relating to religion, such as the preparation of zogo and
more especially in all that appertained to the Bomai-Malu cult (pp. 244, 283, 310). The
i initiates were solemnly warned not to divulge the mysteries, and all the secrets were
jealously guarded and any unauthorised inquisitiveness was severely punished. As an
example, I was informed in 1889 that the personality of the three zogo le at the Malu
dances held at Las was supposed to be unknown to the women, although women and children
could witness the ceremony, and should any woman divulge the name of one of the zogo
le, "she die that night."
Taboos of Places.
Jukes says that at Erub, " here and there along the shore, both on the beach and
out on the sand-flats, were erected tall bamboo poles with long streamers of leaves attached
to them, but what was their object we never could discover. I am inclined to believe
they are mere boundary marks between the different fishing grounds of each village or
small group of huts" (Voyage of the Fly, i. p. 182). I made enquiries on this point
at Erub and found these poles were called seker, they were gelar signs and were erected
to preserve fishing rights, since foreshore rights extended over the adjacent reef (p. 167).
Similar marks were sometimes erected on Mer.
Certain sacred grounds, kbp, such as the spots, au kbp, where the Bomai-Malu pelak
stood at Dam, Gazir and Kiam, were permanently tabooed to women and non-initiates ; other
grounds were temporarily tabooed while ceremonies were in progress, and when this was the
case gelar signs were prominently exhibited to warn off intruders. I had models made
for me (fig. 48) of Malora gelar (taboo of Malu) signs, mis, which were erected at each end
(Lewag pit and Wabkek) of the sandbeach shown in pi. XXIII. fig. 2, when the Bomai-
Malu ceremonies were in progress, and they were erected at Kiam when the Bomai mask
was housed there.
Jukes experienced this custom in Erub, he says (1. c. I. 294) : " The houses
here [Keriam] were now all closed, and the largest, in addition to boards across
the door way, had a trellis work of bamboo over it, and outside stood a tall board, cut
into the profile of a man, like a sentry, standing before the door. They called this figure
maddoop [madub]. They say Keriam was now ' galla ' [gelar] ; and to my farther questions
about this 'galla,' Sapgob answered, 'coskeer backiam, keimear menna' [kosker bakeam,
BELIGION.
247
kimiar mena], ' wives go, men remain ' ; as if the place were now tabooed and not to be
approached by the women."
FIG. 48. Models of gelar signs, mis, for the Malu ceremonies1.
Since the introduction of writing into the islands, the natives are fond of putting up
notices of various kinds, a practice which they have copied from the English notice boards
in Thursday Island. I brought away one from Her which was placed in some " bush " that
was reserved for the use of women.
1 Models of wis, consisting of thin sticks painted red; a fibre is tied on to the upper end of each, to
the free end of which is fastened a white feather knot ; to the central portion of the shaft is attached a
fringe of shredded sago-palm leaves, bisi, dyed red, above and below which in one specimen, and only below
it in another specimen, is a white feather knot ; along the same portion of the shaft are four equidistant
upwardly projecting wooden spikes, which point alternately right and left, and in one specimen an equilateral
triangle, formed of sticks, is placed, apex uppermost, behind the upper half of the fringe. The originals
were made of bamboo and probably the fringe consisted of women's petticoats, bisi nesur, imported from
New Guinea; it is probable that the real posts were 4-5 to 6 m. (15 — 20 ft.) in height, or even taller.
248 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
GELAR PEIKE
Prohibition this
No1 Koseker tebteb abele uteb a pako gaire kebi neure ese nerut Kimiar
Only women only this place and also many little girls if any man
datupi* abele gelar tarimele abi saz* .' selen ese note netat mebege dorege
infringe this rule chief man he two shillings if not one month in-work
ikeli Mamusi doge.
do Mamoose with.
I am indebted to Mr Ray for this translation.
The spelling and distribution of capital letters are copied as in the original.
As a second example I add one recently given me by Mr Ray, which he copied from
a board on a tree in Yam island, it is in the Miriam language :
EAR GELAR PEIKE WBIM GAIR LEM MABO LAM
True rule this for them or for you many sun ?day ? from or leaf
KAKA KO 8AMN< WABP KARA NEI 3EKI.
I will summon you my name Seki.
Taboos on Gardens and Garden Produce.
Various objects were placed in gardens to prohibit theft, each district or group of
people appears to have had its own particular sab or gelar token, and doubtless the customs
appertaining thereto also varied slightly.
The meidu sab zogo is the only one of which we have an adequate account, it had
nothing to do with any other sab or zogo, and it was confined to the Waier le and to the
Peibre le, Warwe le and Eger le on Mer. Kriba (Waier, 29) is the sab le for Waier. Tibi
(Baur, 1) is the sab le for Peibre, and Mamai (16) for Warwe.
The legend connected with Meidu has been given on p. 13 ; according to Mr Bruce,
she was the founder of this custom, as the meidu fruit sprung from her. The meidu sab
zogo is employed for closing up gardens 'to allow food to accumulate in quantities. When
the zogo le puts sab on the garden the owner must not go near it or take any food from
it until the zogo le remove the sab. Each zogo le performs the ceremony for his own
people ; should the zogo le put sab on his own garden, he wears a kernel of the meidu
fruit suspended from his neck, to show all men that he is himself under sab.
Before the ceremony of putting sab on any place, the owner collects as much of the food
as he can from the garden and piles it into a heap. When this is done the zogo le meets
the owner and his friends at the place to be put under taboo. The zogo le then enters
the garden and erects a small shrine with sab, or drift wood taken from the sea, he
1 No Kosher might mean "naked women."
2 Lit. ' ' step over. "
3 Word not known, it may be zeku of the Gospels, meaning offering, tribute, which in this instance might
mean a fine, but more probably it is the English "says."
4 An original spelling of the English word.
5 Syntax is wrong. Wabi should precede samn.
RELIGION. 249
puts a kernel of the meidu on it, and thereby closes the ground, warning all people to
keep from trespassing or taking food from it.
When the sab is taken off the land, a feast and distribution of food takes place,
of which the zogo le gets his share. On removing sab the zogo le goes to the shrine,
takes away the meidu fruit and dismantles the shriue, at the same time saying to the
owner :
Ma mara lewer era sab emetu eseamuda.
You your food eat taboo now finished.
Meidu sab has nothing to do with the ceremony called kebe le, which also closes up
the gardens in order that food may accumulate (p. 166).
The gar sab, or mangrove taboo, appears to have been employed only for yams.
I was informed in 1889 that when a man wears it, he may not eat ordinary yams, but
might eat ketai yams, sweet potatoes, and other food ; the gelar was removed when the
north-west monsoon sets in. This gelar was imposed by the old men of the Komet le. The
wearing of the token advertised the taboo. The gar sab is an embryo of a mangrove
coiled into a spiral (pi. X. figs. 4, 5), — fig. 49 is a sketch, in its natural condition,
of the embryo of Rhizophora mucronata, a species of mangrove (the gapu, as it is termed
in Saibai, is used in that island for divining the sex of an unborn babe, Vol. v. p. 196). —
I collected one specimen (pi. X. fig. 4) in 1889, and gave it to the British Museum, it
is about 115 mm. (4£ in.) long. A second specimen, collected in 1898, is now in the
Cambridge Museum, it is 7 cm. in height, the widest of the four coils is 67 mm. in
diameter, a number of Abrus precatorius seeds are stuck on to the last whorl by means
of beeswax, to which also a small white cowry is attached (pi. X. fig. 5).
Fio. 49. Embryo of a Mangrove ; about one-half natural size.
The Beizam boai1 put a large conch shell (Megalatractus or a Triton) as a taboo
sign, maber sab, for large gardens, and they worked in small gardens for their food in
the meantime. A wagai leaf (Mimusops browniana) was also huug up in gardens for sab.
According to Mr Bruce the maiwei sab, which is considered the most important,
was connected with Bomai; it is practised at Areb, and at Giar on Dauar. Wanu (15 A),
Wali (15 u), and Baton (15) are the maiwei sab le for Areb and Pasi (27) for Giar. The
gar sab, bodo sab and iwar sab were also associated with Bomai. I do not know what
maiwei, bodo or irwar mean.
In 1889 I obtained a piece of wood, about 23 cm. (9 in.) in length, carved to
represent a sea-snake, pagi (pi. XXI. fig. 13). Pagi were placed in the gardens of the
Dauer le or Dauar le (I am not quite sure which, but I think it is the former) as a sign
of gelar to warn off thieves.
1 In 1889 I waa informed that the maber was employed by the Zagareb le for gelar.
H. Vol. VI. 32
250 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
Taboos cm Names.
The taboo on the name of a relative by marriage has been described by Dr Rivers,
p. 99 (cf. also Mr Ray, Vol. ill. p. 61). A person who is subject to a taboo on the name
of a relative is also debarred from uttering the name of that relative if it should be
the name of an object. Thus if the relative in question were named after an animal,
the person subject to the taboo would have to find some other name for the animal
(p. 100).
Food taboos,
There appears to have been very little in the way of food taboos among the Miriam,
those just mentioned in regard to gardens are merely restrictive measures having an
economic basis, being of the nature of a close season. More of the character of true taboos
are the prohibitions of certain articles of food to pregnant women (p. 105). It is not certain
that the kesi were subject to any food taboos. In 1889 I was informed that " Miriam
no eat beizam, he zogo belong we," but probably this prohibition is no longer in force.
Mr Bruce says distinctly, " Their laws as regards totems seem to be very elastic, there
does not appear to be anything tabooed to the men in the way of food, but only to the
women. A Beizam le would kill a shark, a nam zogo le kills and eats turtles, a daumer le
can kill and eat the Torres Straits pigeon, and a tabu le would kill a snake. The only
food that was tabooed was in connection with certain ceremonies and for short periods,"
these have already been described.
MORALITY.
I have very little to add to the remarks I made when dealing with the morality of
the Western Islanders (Vol. v. pp. 272 — 277), as there does not appear to have been any
essential difference in this respect between the Western and the Eastern Islanders.
Rules of conduct were sufficiently defined and as far as possible enforced not by a
special judiciary or executive body but by public opinion. Ultimately recourse might be
had to the services of the maid le, or to physical force put into operation by the old
men through their delegates, or by friends of the injured party ; but these were merely the
recognised means by which public opinion maintained its authority when the disappro-
bation of public opinion was ineffectual. In these respects the Miriam did not differ
from the Western Islanders, but the Bomai-Malu fraternity possessed in the functionary
known as Magur (p. 311) a powerful mechanism for punishing those who had fallen
into the displeasure of its prominent members. We do not know whether the office of
Magur was hereditary or who could occupy it, but this masked executive officer un-
doubtedly was a source of terror, for it was impossible to withstand him as he possessed
the weight of authority.
There is no reason to believe that what we speak of as sexual morality was regarded
in a different manner than that which obtained in the western islands. In other words,
there was probably considerable license among the unmarried girls, provided that the
rules concerning prohibited degrees were not infringed. The injury inflicted on a
EELIGION. 251
husbaud through the adultery of his wife was regarded as theft, the same word, eruam,
"to steal," being employed for both offences. Some men kept a bundle of sticks, kupe,
as a tally of their amours, and tallies by means of notches on certain possessions were
also kept (p. 295). The cult of the Waiet zogo (p. 279) appears to have been an
organisation for irregular sexual intercourse, and the zogo le of the Bomai-Malu cult are
stated to have abused the power which their position gave them to coerce girls and
women.
The domestic relations between married people appear to have been distinctly good.
Squabbles naturally occur between husband and wife, and, owing to their lively Papuan
temperament, blows may be struck or wounds inflicted, but the ill-feeling soon departs
and they make friends again. On account of the excitement that it causes and of
their love of publicity, the Miriam are very fond of. summoning one another before the
local court, the majority of cases being for wife-beating (p. 180) ; but on the whole
the women are very well able to take care of themselves. Quiet affection is noticeable
between married persons, and the fathers outvie the mothers in demonstrative love of
and care for the children.
I have already (p. 189) drawn attention to the bad character attributed in the
past to the natives, but this seems to have been much exaggerated.
GHOSTS AND SPIRITS.
The word mar, or more frequently lamar, was used to express a shadow, reflection,
ghost, or spirit, but it does not follow that anyone of these ideas was confounded in
the native mind with one of the others.
The Western Islanders appear to make a distinction between the ghost, mari, of
a recently deceased person and its later stage as a definite spirit, marfcai (Vol. v. pp. 355 —
358) ; but I have no evidence that this was done by the Miriam. Perhaps the Miriam mar
(which has the same significance as the Western mdri) designates the earlier stage of
disembodiment, and the word lamar (which Mr Ray — Vol. in. p. 150 — suggests is an abbre-
viation of lela mar " man's spirit ") signifies the later stage ; in which case it would be
strictly equivalent to markai, which Mr Ray — Vol. ill. p. 110 — thinks is derived from mari
kai, i.e. kazi, " spirit person " (kazi is usually abbreviated into ka in compound words).
There is another word, keber, which is employed very frequently in connection with
death and with funeral ceremonies, but it is very difficult to gain a conception of its
exact significance. Anything that is actually connected with a man in life or after
death, no matter how insignificant, is looked upon as a part of the deceased, one might
even consider that the natives regarded it as a part of the lamar ; such an object is
called keber. The pantomimic funeral ceremonies were termed keber, and the performers
who personated ghosts were called keber le. Although the keber ceremonies were intro-
duced from the western islands I did not come across that word in any western
island. The theft of the keber, that is of the desiccated body or any part of it, or
of any object connected with a grave (p. 149), made the ghost restless and inclined to
trouble his living relations (p. 128). Mr Bruce defines the term keber as "the spiritual
essence of the deceased."
32—2
252 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
Mr Hunt states that, " The spirit of man could leave the body during sleep and
wander at will, as in dreams. In sickness or death the spirit might go to distant friends
and warn them of what was happening" (Journ. Anth. Inst. xxvin. p. 8).
Dr Myers was informed that the mar or lamar goes out of a person during sleep
to visit places or people, which accounts for dreams about them.
Every individual had a ghost that left the body at death, and was liable at night-
time to haunt its former abode for two or three months, during which time it fed on
the food placed around the paier (pp. 135, 140) and might attempt to enter its former
home (p. 148). When displeased the ghosts could cause strong winds to destroy gardens
or break down houses, or inflict injuries on living persons or disturb them in some way
(pp. 127, 128). On one occasion when a large concourse of people was at a "play,"
the house of the widow Neke (1 A) caught fire. The " play " took place at a considerable
distance from Neke's place, but it was considered that the lamar of her deceased
husband, Arus, was angry with her for her levity in witnessing the festivity and had
burnt down her house. That a ghost might be energetic is further shown by the
Miriam adjective marmar, wild, which like many adjectives is formed by the redupli-
cation of a noun, and by the negative adjective markak, spiritless, tame.
Eventually the ghosts depart (badmirida, lit. "are lost sight of"), they are supposed
to dive into the sea at Umar pit, the most westerly point of Mer, in order to reach
Beig. Beig is located under the island and the sea. When the sun sets, they
say, "lem e baraigida Beigem," "sun he dives down to Beig," as it is supposed
that the sun goes under the sea when setting and returns underneath the island and
sea to rise again in the east. Beig is supposed to be populated by the spirits
of the dead in going to or returning from the mythical island of Boigu. There
is an island to the north-west, opposite to the mouth of the Mai Kussa river, which
is called Boigu, but it is doubtful whether in former days a Murray Islander ever went
to that island. Boigu is the final home of the lamar. The Western Islanders also
believed that ghosts went to an island to the north-west, which they termed Kibu
(Vol. V. p. 355), but there is no evidence that Kibu was another name for Boigu, as I
have often heard them refer to the latter island by its ordinary name.
I was distinctly informed that no -animal, plant, or inanimate object had a lamar;
but as the lamar of certain female stone effigies, bager (p. 202) were supposed to keep
fires from going out, we must suppose that these spirits did not belong to the stone
itself, but were associated with the carved images, which would thus be fetishes. The
Beizam shrine was described as resembling a lamar (p. 270).
When a man was very ill, gimgim, and was lying by the fire being about to die,
his lamar passed into a lamar ebur, that is, some animal which might appear to the
onlookers and would be regarded by them as a death omen ; or which, appearing
after death, would be considered as the temporary resting place of the newly liberated
lamar (p. 256) ; the natives dread these " ghost animals," which are regarded in much
the same manner as is the " fetch " by European peasants. The ghost of a dead man
was embodied in a cuckoo, kriskris (Chrysococcyx lucidus) in the legend of the Nam
zogo (p. 48).
Shooting stars, maier, are departed spirits, and have the power of causing sickness
RELIGION. 253
and death, especially in cases where the deceased's children have not been well looked
after. It is believed that sickness or a death will take place in that village towards
which the star falls, the actual time of its occurrence does not matter. It might be
months or years subsequently to the appearance of the meteorite that a death took
place, in which case some would attribute it to the falling star, while others would
credit the death to a sorcerer, maid le. Of small shooting stars they have no fear, as
they regard them as novices who have not yet learned how to use their powers, but
are getting lessons from the older spirits. On fine starry nights it causes great amuse-
ment to the people, when they are in their canoes or sitting round their village fires, to watch
the shooting stars, especially the feeble ones, at which they will laugh, and they deride
them as if they were the futile efforts of living beings. But when a large star falls
there is a change in their note, then they exclaim a long drawn " Ai ! ai !," and a sudden
hush falls for a time, until a small star falls, when the laughing begins again.
If we accept the western view of the distinction between a mari and a markai,
we may assert that the Torres Straits Islanders feared the ghosts but believed in the
general friendly disposition of the spirits of the departed. In Mabuiag the corpse was
carried out of the camp feet foremost, or else the ghost would find its way back and
trouble the survivors ; and the food and water of which the deceased had been partaking
was placed on or near the platform on which the corpse was laid, otherwise the ghost
came back for them and would thus annoy and frighten the relatives. If the food was
found scattered the next morning, the people said the ghost was angry and threw the
food about (Vol. v. pp. 248, 249). The ghost of a recently deceased person is particularly
feared by the Miriam and it haunts the neighbourhood for two or three months. We
have native testimony for tracing the origin of the elaborate funeral ceremonies to this
belief.
The Miriam perform as many as possible of the necessary ceremonies in order that
the ghost of the deceased might not feel slighted, for otherwise it would bring trouble
upon the relatives (p. 127). These ceremonies, some of which might take place months
after the last death (they appear to have been annual among the Western Islanders,
Vol. v. p. 252), seem to consist among the Miriam of two main elements: (1) the
dramatisation of a legend accounting for Various practices connected with funerals and
the journeying of ghosts to the mythical island of Boigu ; in this ceremony the chief
performer, who personated Terer, the spirit messenger, was supposed to take away the ghosts
of the dead to Boigu (pp. 131, 132). (2) The pantomimic representation of recently
deceased persons in their character of denizens of the spirit world. We are informed
that the illusion of the personification of ghosts by men was almost perfect, more
especially as it was assisted by the implicit belief of the women and children that the
performers really were ghosts or spirits (p. 141). There is no doubt that the latter
ceremonies comforted the mourners ; probably the main reason was that it reassured them
that the ghostly relatives would no longer haunt the living, but apart from this there
may have been a real pleasure in the idea of the return of the ghost, for we must
not forget that these affectionate people kept their dead in remembrance as far as their
limited resources permitted.
254 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
TOTEMISM.
It is a very remarkable fact that while totemism exists among the Western Islanders, it
is entirely absent as a cult from the Miriam. We have no information concerning the other
Eastern Islanders but probably they agreed in this respect with the Miriam. From every
point of view, except the linguistic, the relationship of the Miriam is very close to the
Western Islanders, and as there can be no shadow of doubt that the former were at one time
in the totemic stage, it is desirable to attempt an explanation of its disappearance.
We may certainly regard the totemism of the Western Islanders as of unknown
antiquity. It presents most of the features that this institution possesses amongst the less
advanced Australians ; but at the same time it exhibits some indications of decay, and there
can be little doubt that eventually it would have succumbed to the hero-cults that had already
been introduced. Perhaps one explanation of its persistence in the Western Islands may be
found in the prevalence of totemism in the adjacent district of New Guinea, a district with
•which the islanders were perfectly familiar, and with the natives of which they had trading
relations. With the exception of the Kauralaig (Vol. v. p. 2) their connection was much less
intimate with the natives of the Cape York district of Northern Queensland, and how far
these people were in a typical totemic stage we have no means of knowing. The Yarai-
kanna, at all events, possess what are usually termed "personal totems" (Vol. v. p. 193)1.
The continual intercourse in various ways which the Western Islanders had with different
islands and with New Guinea would probably tend to maintain the totemic system, whereas
the Miriam being so isolated would be more likely to develop socially independently of
their neighbours.
Dr Rivers has shown (pp. 169 — 177) that the Miriam have in various social matters
progressed a little in advance of the Western folk ; for instance, the territorial grouping of
the totem clans has resulted in village exogamy ; the dual organisation of the Western clans
was already much weakened, but it has quite disappeared from the Miriam ; and there is
also a tendency towards simplification in the kinship systems of the two peoples from a
1 Dr Walter Roth has informed me that the four primary divisions are now practically ignored, and
consequently for the most part forgotten in the immediate vicinity of the Mapoon Mission Reserve on the
Batavia River, Carpentaria Gulf Coast of N. Queensland. The Rev. N. Hey had fortunately collected these
terms some few years ago and Dr Roth was able to confirm his notes from a Pennefather River boy.
" (1) Nama-kurgi — relative to that portion of country where grows the nama tree, the bark of which is used
for thatching huts. (2) Ba-kurgi — country named after an inlet ba. (3) Lar nganama, after the lar (Acacia
Rothii) which grows there. (4) Ba-maraugo, named for the same reason as (2). These four names are," so
far as Dr Roth could make out, "those of geographical localities. Each of these four localities had its own
main camp, each such camp forming a unit or primary division of the population occupying this portion of
the coast. These main divisions had a most important bearing where marriage was concerned, because people
could only marry according to them. The wife took up her abode at her husband's camp, but their offspring,
as they grew up, belonged to another camp.
M ii le + Female = Child
Nama-kurgi + Ba-maraugo = Ba-kurgi
Ba-kurgi + Lar-nganama = Nama-kurgi
Lar-nganama + Ba-kurgi = Ba-maraugo
Ba-maraugo + Nama-kurgi = Lar-nganama."
Here we seem to have a clear case of territorial exogamy which has replaced an older type of ordinary
totemic exogamy. This tends to indicate that typical totemism was breaking dowu in North Queensland.
RELIGION. 255
thoroughly typical classificatory system and perhaps on the whole the Miriam are slightly
the more advanced, i.e. simplified. The maternal uncle does not appear to be so important
a person among the Miriam as among the Western Islanders. Mr Wilkin has pointed out
(Vol. v. pp. 284, 289) that the gardens were much more valued in Mer than in Mabuiag
and that the customs with regard to land were much more strict in the former island than in
the latter. All of which tends to prove that social evolution has occurred among the Miriam
to a greater extent than it has among the Western Islanders.
The only probable relics of totemism are :
(1) The hereditary nature of certain zogo with which are associated definite magical
performances (pp. 174, 195 ff.). The presumption being that these originally were rituals
connected with the increase or control of totems by the elders of the respective clans (cf.
Vol. v. pp. 182 — 4). That these should be associated with villages or places, quite as much as
with families, is only in accord with the assumed replacement of totemism by village exogamy.
(2) The following groups with animal names : Omai le (Dog men), Daumer le (Pigeon
men), Geregere le (Geregere-bird men) and Wazwaz le ( Wazwaz- shark men) (see p. 287),
suggest totemic clans. Dr Rivers has discussed this view (p. 173) and I, too, am of opinion
that these names, which appear to be solely connected with introduced dances (p. 282), cannot
be considered as totemic so far as the Miriam are concerned. There is nothing unusual in
giving dances or songs to individuals or groups whose property they thenceforth become. The
erratic distribution of these le does not appear to have any special significance.
Marriage between members of a totem clan in the same island are strictly prohibited
among the Western Islanders (Vol. V. pp. 161, 235), indeed clan exogamy is a characteristic
feature of totemism. As a test of the possibility of marriage between members of the groups
which bear animal names we obtained the following information. Membership descended
from father to children, thus Harry Mamoose, like his father Ano (Zaub, 2) belonged to the
Beizam boai and was also Omai, Geregere, and Daumer ; Ano married Mera (Wed, 10 B) who
was Zagareb, Omai. Malgi (Er 18 A) was Zagareb, Omai, he married Kepu (Giar, Dauar, 28)
who was Beizam, their son Enoka is Zagareb, Omai, he has no children of his own, so he
adopted Dawita (15) who is Zagareb, Omai. Sesei (Areb, 15 A) was Beizam, Daumer (and a
tami le), he married Wesegur (Keweid, 3) also a Beizam, Daumer, their son Wanu married
an Erub woman, having no children he adopted Warm or Kailu junr. Beizam, Daumer, Gere-
gere, when his father Sagiba (Areb, 15) died. These examples show that marriage took
place between members of the same groups as well as between those of different groups.
In each of the above cases of adoption, the boy was adopted by a man belonging to the same
group as the boy's father (cf. also p. 175 and Vol. V. p. 152).
In discussing the term agud (p. 245) reference was made to certain animals which might
be regarded as totemic, as being associated with people ; but if that was the case in the past,
it has no practical effect at the present time, nor can this disuse — assuming they were once of
social importance — be attributed to the influence of European culture. The animals in the
following lists appear in recent times to have been simply associated with the dominant cult,
whatever their past history may have been.
Agud belonging to the Beizam agud : beizam (shark), iruapap (hammer-headed shark),
kumazer (a kind of ray, Pteroplatea ?), tapim (sting ray).
Zogo ebur (zogo animals) belonging to Bomai and Malu : omai (dog), daumer (Torres
256 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TOEEES STEAITS.
Straits pigeon, this is eaten now, but was said not to be formerly), geregere (a bird in New
Guinea), karor (frigate bird ?), kaubet (a black bird that lives on the sand-beach), sir (reef
heron), tble (a small grey bird), wamer (frigate bird), kodal (crocodile, this does not occur on
the Murray Islands), olai (the zogo nei for the turtle-shell turtle), goai (tree frog), kitoto
(a locust or tree cricket), isi (centipede).
Zogo lar (zogo fish) belonging to Bomai and Malu : galbol (whale), bid (porpoise). The
natives naturally do not distinguish cetacea from fish.
The whale, turtle and porpoise were forms assumed by Bomai (pp. 33, 34). Malu was
a shark-man (p. 43) but the mask that represented him (p. 291) was a hammer-headed shark,
and on this mask were effigies of sir, tble, goai and isi. Malu dancers represented omai,
daumer and geregere. The kitoto was employed for divination in connection with Bomai
(p. 267). Taking these facts into consideration, there is nothing definitely totemic about
these animals.
(3) A few wooden or turtle-shell models of animals that are western totems have been
J obtained from Mer. I obtained a turtle-shell effigy of a ray, tapim (Vol. v. pi. XI. fig. 7), which
is now in the Cambridge Museum, it is 104 mm. long ; and I collected a somewhat similar
specimen in 1889, which is in the Oxford Museum (pi. XXIV. fig. 4), it is ovoid in form,
without fins, and the tail is broken off, it is about 48 mm. long. There is also in the Liverpool
Museum a well carved wooden model in the round of a basking-shark ', 171 mm. in length
(pi. XXIV. figs. 6, 7), which was collected by J. Duncan-Stoward in Mer before 1885. A
painting (pi. XXIV. fig. 5) on the upper surface of a stone top in the Cambridge collection
represents a man wearing a typical Torres Straits shark-mask. The occurrence of these
specimens proves nothing ; they may have been imported from the west ; or they may
be of local manufacture, in which case they may be relics of a totemic cult ; or they may
have been made for the purpose of what we term homoeopathic magic.
(4) Mr Bruce informed me that in the intervals between the various keber ceremonies
(pp. 139 — 144) certain persons were dressed up to represent a beast, bird, or fish (p. 144).
v They advanced from the west towards the spectators, that is in the opposite direction from
that in which those who were enacting the keber ceremonies proceeded. The latter we know
personified the ghosts of the deceased moving towards the west on their way to Boigu, the
spirit world. Therefore we may conclude that the mummers in animal guise were intended to
indicate spirits visiting mortals, and it is permissible to regard them as representing spirits
returning from Boigu in the form of their animal totem ; this particular embodiment may be
explained by the characteristic conservatism of funeral practices in general, and does not
necessarily imply a persistence of totemism as an actual cult.
(5) The ghost of a recently deceased person usually appears to the survivors in the
^ form of some animal, lamar ebur. The kiau, a kingfisher, is to be regarded mainly as an
omen bird which has the power of seeing ghosts and warns the living, irrespective of their
sex, of -their approach ; but it is also a particular lamar ebur of women. There are, however,
certain animals that appear immediately before or after the death of members of particular
groups of individuals. After mentioning the term lamar ebur, the word nogu was added
by my informant ; evidently this was intended to express the appearing of the lamar of
the deceased " outside " of the body, that is, as a ghost.
1 Cetorhinus maximus; I am indebted to my friend Dr H. 0. Forbes for this identification.
RELIGION. 257
The lamar ebur of the men.
Beizam (shark) for the Beizam boai, omai (dog) for the omai le, daumer (Torres Straits
pigeon) and geregere (a small bird) for their respective le. For a tami le there would
appear: goai (tree-frog), ta/pim (black locust, or sting-ray), kitoto (orange coloured locust).
The kuskus(l) and tabu (snake) belong to the Zagareb le. I was informed that an omai will
appear when Harry Mamoose (Zaub, 2) dies, he is also a Beizam, Geregere le ; a tabu will
appear for Enoka (Er, ISA), he is also Zagareb, Omai le; and a goai for Wanu (Areb, 15 A)
who is also a Beizam, Daumer, Geregere le.
The lamar ebur of the women.
Saper (fruit-eating bat, Pteropus), dibadiba (dove, Ptilinopus swainsoni), seprumur
(a small bird, like a dibadiba, with bluish body and red breast), koko (pigeon, Geopelia
humilis), tble (a small grey bird), kiau (kingfisher, Halcyon sanctus), ti (sun-bird, Nectarinia
australis).
The idea evidently is that the ghost of a person takes the form of an animal to which it
is akin, and in that guise appears to the survivors. Usually it is the eponymous animal of a
group with an animal name that appears on the death of a male member. In the section on
Divination it will be seen that there is an intimate relation between the kitoto and the
Komet le and Samsep le, who are Beizam boai. Women are represented by flying animals,
bats and birds1, but no relation was indicated between groups of women and particular
birds. This looks suspiciously like what has been termed a " sex-totem," but I am not pre-
pared to admit that these birds are totems in the true sense of the term.
The lamar ebur certainly look like vestiges of totemism, although as Dr Rivers points
out, there is no definite evidence to show that these animals were ever connected with the
social organisation.
The social advance of the Miriam is probably a satisfactory reason for the lapsing of
totemism from the social organisation. The absence of enemies, the large amount of inter-
marriage in the island, and the strengthening of blood-kinship would tend to diminish its
value as a socialising factor. In other words it had been outgrown from a social point of
view. From a religious point of view totemism is an impersonal, communal sort of religion ;
when men cultivate small gardens and become possessed of personal property a need appears
for a more definite, individualistic type of religion. An ancestor-cult had appeared in Torres
Straits though it does not seem to have developed very far ; but the death blow to
totemism was given by the introduction and growth of the hero cults. Those of the
Western Islanders were grafted on totemism, the Main cult seems to have supplanted it,
probably because totemism had been weakened through other causes. Among the ad-
vantages of the new religion were the recognition of personal powers from whom help could ^
be obtained and the welding of separate interests into a common or national religion.
1 But the ghost of a dead man was embodied in a cuckoo, kriskris (Chrysococcyx lucidus), in the legend of
the A'am 2090 (p. 4^).
H. Vol. VI. 33
258
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
I
ANCESTOR CULT.
There are slight traces of an ancestor cult in Torres Straits but no definite information
on the subject could be obtained in the western islands, all that is known will be found in
Vol. v. pp. 364 — 367. Thanks, however, to the efforts of Mr Bruce a little information about
what he regards as a kind of ancestor worship has recently been obtained from the Murray
Islands, but even he found it excessively difficult to get the people to tell him anything about
it. He says :
" Certain septs or divisions of Mer and Dauar had their own ad giz, who are believed to
be the founders of their respective septs, and are reverenced and no doubt were worshipped
and supplicated on behalf of the needs of the sept." The word ad, as we have seen (p. 242),
signifies something old and traditional, with an idea of sanctity ; Mr Bruce adds it " signifies
a god," but I think this is somewhat too definite an idea. Giz means "origin, base,
foundation," or a " collection." Mr Bruce defines ad giz as " the first god, or god of the very
beginning of things," perhaps " ancient of days " might be a better term. So far as Mr Bruce
could discover the ad giz were not zogo.
" Some of the ad were warriors, others men of peace. Each ad has still his lineal
descendant in his own sept. Although it does not now seem much of an honour, there is no
doubt that formerly these men must have held a high position in their respective septs. The
direct descendant bears the name of his illustrious ancestor, but it is never used in
addressing them by others. The direct descendants are regarded as mere men and there is
no evidence that they formerly regarded their ad as supernatural beings.
" The following were the ad giz1 of the Murray Islands :
Ad giz
Headquarters
Direct male descendants
Ganomi2
Gigred
Aii
Palai
j>
Tibi (Baur, 1)
Ginamai3
Saugiz
Kaige (Saugiz, 6)
Waguan
Ulag
Gabi (Ulag, 12c)
Kokuam 4
Eger
Sager (Eger, 17)
Bom5
Kameri
Debe Wali [Mere] (Kameri,
26)
" It appears that the ad giz were prior to the Bomai-Malu cult, and the advent of that
cult seems to have had a disturbing influence whilst it was superseding the ad giz. Thus,
1 Mr Bruce sent to me, for the Cambridge Museum, wooden models of the ad giz, which he had specially
made. They are all very much alike. The face and back and vertex of the head are black, the nose and
mouth are red and there is a red rim round the face, the latter is furnished with a beard, moustache and
whiskers. The neck, waist and arms are red, the fingers are black and the palms red. The abdomen and
legs are black. There is a tuft of cassowary feathers on the head, a whitened turtle-shell crescent on the
chest, an imitation nlida over the groin. Their heights are as follows : Ganomi (pi. XXII. fig. 3), 43 cm.
(17 in.); Palai, 43-5 cm. (17J in.) ; these two bear an imitation four-rayed, stone-headed club in the right hand.
Ginamai (pi. XXII. fig. 4), 50 cm. (19J in.); Waguan, 44-5 cm. (174 >"•); Kokuam, 44 cm. (17| in.); Bom
(pi. XXII. fig. 5), 46 cm. (18J in.) ; these three carry an imitation spear in the right hand.
• Ganume is the Mawata for "moon." :! Mr Bruce also spells it Gunamai.
4 Hibiscus. 5 The western word for Pandanus.
RELIGION. 259
Ganomi and Palai, the ad giz of the Palai le whose headquarters were at Gigred, killed many
of the zogo le belonging to Bomai [probably these were not strictly speaking zogo le but
Beizam le or members of the Bomai-Malu fraternity], but eventually they were themselves
killed through treachery. On the other hand, Waguan and Kokuam were supporters of
Bomai and assisted the zogo le by giving them their protection. These two ad giz belonged
to the Zagareb le who held a prominent position in the Bomai cult, when it did get the
ascendancy on the island.
" Ginamai, the ad giz of the K6met le, was a very peace-loving man, but he could
not keep his people under control, as all his men went to Erub (Daraley Island) against
his wish, where they were murdered by an ad giz of Erub named Robesa. As all
Ginamai's men were killed he acted as a husband to all the widows. When he was
consoling them and telling them he would act a husband's part, he said, ' Wu gaire
kosker karim tabakeatuari ' (' You all women to me come '). According to tradition he
carried out his promise and bred a new race of men for Kbmet."
Our information is insufficient to determine the limits of the areas of which the
ad giz were the head men. At all events, we find that Gigred is a village of the
district of Peibre, the inhabitants of which are not allowed to take an active part in the
Bomai-Malu cult, but they have to provide food for the participants; possibly this
disability may be due to the earlier antagonism. Now they are termed tebud, or friends.
The district of K6met, of which Saugiz is a village, is one of the headquarters of the
Bomai-Malu cult. Ulag and Eger are situated respectively in the districts of Zagareb
and Geaurem, their inhabitants form part of the Zagareb le, who provided the music and
songs for the Bomai-Malu cult. Perhaps these districts represent vanished totem terri-
tories ; if this be so, the ad giz were probably the head men of their respective groups,
who seem to have been apotheosised, though to what extent it is very difficult to
determine.
OMENS.
There can be no doubt that under certain circumstances many objects or actions „
were ominous. Unfortunately we did not record so many of these as we ought to have
done, but the following will indicate their range.
If a man sneezes, siau, it is a sign that someone has mentioned his name, and he
immediately cracks the joints of each thumb by closing on it the closed fingers of that
hand (tag itakiamur) (cf. Vol. v. p. 361).
On one occasion, at all events, Gasu, Smoke, and others had no success when they
heard a voice proceed from the cemetery at Larte as they were going on their way to
catch turtles on a sand-bank.
Shooting stars are omens (p. 252).
In the folk-tales we find that when D6g found his body did not perspire as usual,
he feared something was amiss at home (p. 40).
§3— 2
260 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
Omen birds.
Certain birds, such as the kiau, koko, and ti are not only omen birds but are also
. lamar ebur that appear directly after women die, or immediately before death as omens
that they are about to die (p. 257). I believe all omen birds are termed lamar ebur, at
all events a lamar ebur could appear as a death omen (pp. 252, 256).
The kingfisher, kiau (Halcyon sanctus), has the power of seeing ghosts, and when
.one calls out "ekwe, ekwe, ekwe," the passer-by runs away lest the ghost should attack
vhim or her, in which case death might ensue. When several people are going through
the bush and hear a kingfisher calling, they have no means of telling who is liable to
be attacked, so they all take to flight in order to escape the danger. The lamar (ghost)
of a recently dead person is particularly to be feared as it haunts the neighbourhood
where it died for two or three months. One informant thought that the kiau calls out
to a lamar to attack a living person ; but it is more probable that the bird is to be
regarded as a friendly warner of danger, rather than as an enemy that sets a ghost on
to a man. The kiau is also the particular lamar ebur of women (p. 257).
The sun bird, ti (Nectarinia australis) (p. 8), is supposed to be endowed with the
faculty of foretelling events, such as when a boat is likely to arrive at the island, and
how many persons are coming ; this is one of the birds utilised by the Tomog zogo le.
The ti is mentioned as guide in the story of Gelam (p. 24).
The birobiro, or berobero, is a small red migratory bird that announces by its arrival
that the yams are ready for eating (p. 211).
The miaii is a " spirit bird " that informs the people by its cry that the banana
ceremony, kaba zogo, has been performed and that there will be a good crop (p. 207).
The koko is a small red and blue bird (Geopelia humilis) about the size of a lark
(Alauda). This bird, by its call "ko ko," lets the people know that it is going to be
fine weather. When they hear its call they say, " Ah ! fine weather come now." Mr J.
Bruce writes that his informants told him it is never heard to call out when there is
any wind, and that it never calls out whilst on the ground, but only when perched on
a tree ; that it never calls out when -on the ground is considered to be a wonderful
proof of its power as an omen. They have great faith in the koko as a genuine weather
prophet, but one would be inclined to give it more credit as such if it called out its
warning at the conclusion of bad weather ; as far as Mr Bruce can make out, it cries only
when the weather is fine, and prognosticates that it will continue so.
The waru, or waro, bird warns the people at night by calling out its own name,
" Waru waru," that on the following day they will see numerous turtles swimming in the
deep water. Whenever a man happens to hear the waru call, he gets his canoe and
fishing gear ready and keeps on the look-out, as he knows that turtles are sure to
come past his place. It is a small sea-bird with a long bill and legs, that frequents the
beach just at the edge of the water. It calls only at night and solely during the turtle-
season, November to January. The natives have great faith in its warning, and wonderful
accounts are given of the great number of turtles some have seen after hearing the
waru's call, and they thoroughly believe they would not have seen them had not the
RELIGION. 261
warning been given. No doubt it stimulates them to keep a sharp look-out. Warn
is the name of the turtle in the western islands.
The kopei is a small bird, with a red head and blue back and breast, about the
size of a parroquet. It calls out people's names as if it knew who they were. It is
said to be found only on Dauar and Uga (Stephen's Island). The only names which
Mr J. Bruce could find out that it was in the habit of calling were those of two old
women, named Waisi and Mabkep, who lived on Dauar. Waisi was an Erub (Darnley
Island) woman, the widow pf a Dauar man1, her legs were partly paralysed so that she
had to walk with the aid of a big stick, used as a crutch. Mabkep had a deformed
foot, the toes of the right foot being all turned in towards the sole. These women
lived together and when they went out of their house they were always hobbling about
together on their sticks, and whenever they went outside the house the kopei used to
follow them and call out to them " Waisi ! Mabkep ! kulpe api ! " all the while. The
natives think kulpe api really means palopalo (crooked2) and that the kopei was trying
to call out " Mabkep palopalo," referring to the crooked toes, but that he could not
pronounce the last word properly. They give this bird the credit of being able to call
out any person's name, but so far as Mr Bruce was able to discover the only names
it has been known to call are those of these two old women.
DIVINATION.
We have not many records of actions performed in order to gain information about
past, present, or future events. They are practically confined to the Tomog divining /
zogo, skull divination, and divination by means of lice.
Tomog zogo.
Tomog zogo was formerly the famous and important divinatory shrine of Mer, it
belonged to the K6met le and Er le3, and lies in a cleared space in a bamboo thicket
almost midway between those districts, as shown on the map on p. 170.
It consists of a collection of stones, on each of which was formerly placed a large
shell, usually a giant Fusus or a helmet shell (Cassis) (pi. XXIII. figs. 3, 4) ; each
stone with its shell represented a dwelling-place, village, or district in Mer (fig. 50).
The main collection of stones measures about 4-6 m. (15 ft.) from north to south and
about 4 m. (13 ft.) from east to west. By the north-western angle there is a confused
mass of large clam shells (Tridacna) which appear to have originally had a somewhat
concentric arrangement, this forms the " house " of the zogo. The latter was said to
have been a small stone in the form of a cross, it was contained within the valves
of a small Tridacna shell, this was placed in a larger one, and so on. About 2-l m.
(7 ft.) from the main shrine in a north-westerly direction is a small stone, Si, with a
Fusus shell; it is shown to the left near the foreground in pi. XXIII. fig. 4.
1 Waisi was the second wife of Daugiri of Waier (29), doubtless they resided on Dauar.
2 In Vol. in. pp. 135, 173 barbar is the only word for "crooked," balbal is the western term.
3 In my notes I have Er le, but Mr Hunt (1. c. p. 8) says Geaurem le, and probably he is correct.
262
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
The accompanying plan of Tomog zogo shows diagrammatically the relative positions
and forms of the stones and shells forming the shrine. Considerable difficulty was
DEIAU
O
O
T
GEflAGEBAKES
o /\
iTERKCR f \
DAUAR
D 9-
SERWAGED
Scale of Feet
O
O
O
O
FIG. 50. Plan of Tomog 20170.
O
experienced in securing approximate unanimity in the identification of the stones with
the places named on the plan, and several of them I cannot place on the map. Perhaps
RELIGION. 263
all the stones may not be in their original position. In any case the stones cannot
be said to form a map of the island, nor is there any other arrangement that is
intelligible to me.
Divination was accomplished by the voices and movements of birds, the movements t
of rats, lizards and insects, and the appearance of natural objects. Anything that
happened to one of the associated stones and shells related to the man or men who lived
in the house or district represented by that particular stone and shell, but anything
that happened to the Si stone and shell concerned all the inhabitants of the island.
It is obvious that by means of the central mass of stones a discrimination or analysis
could be made, whereas the Si stone permitted of a synthesis.
The oracle was consulted only at daybreak, those who came to inquire of the zogo
stood up in a particular spot to the north-east and said, " Tomog zogo, you make me
know all things, tell us the truth." After they had asked the question for which they
required a definite answer, they sat down on some leaves, with their legs crossed under
them, and their closed fists on their knees (pi. XXIII. figs. 3, 4)1.
Supposing someone in the island was sick, a relative or friend of the invalid would
approach one of the zogo le and ask him to find out who had brought misfortune
on their friend. Next morning, at ' small fellow daylight,' the zogo le would ask the
zogo, "Who made So-and-so sick? Where does he live?" Then the inquirers would sit
down in a row and wait. By-and-by a lizard, mbnan, might come out of a shell, this
would indicate the house or village where the man lived, and later, by means of careful
local inquiries they would seek to discover his identity. When they had satisfied them-
selves, they would tell him to take his sorcery stone, wiwar, and to put it in the sea.
As soon as the stone became cooled by the water, the patient would recover from his
illness (p. 233). Even if the man had not performed maid, he would always admit it
and do as he was told, partly to save trouble, and partly because he was pleased to
have the reputation of being able to perform this kind of magic.
Tomog zogo was also consulted if a man was very ill, in order to find out if he
would recover. If a dead lizard was seen, it was a warning that he would die — a
prophecy that almost certainly wrought its own fulfilment.
It was the custom to attend the zogo every (?) morning to discover if anything
was going to happen. The zogo le did not, in that case, ask a question of the zogo,
but sat down and looked about them.
If two small lizards, keftd, or ked, came out of different shells and meeting one
another had a fight and one of them killed the other, then the zogo le knew that the
man represented by the victorious kead had perpetrated maid upon the man indicated
by the slain lizard2.
1 The men in the photographs, beginning from the left, are Jimmy Dei (Sebeg, 4 B), Kaige, son of Obra
(Saugiz, 6), Enoka (Er, 18 A), , Arei, the mamoose (Zaub, 2).
2 The Rev. A. E. Hunt (Journ. Anth. Inst. xxvni. 1899, p. 8) gave the following account: "If any person
died, the tumog was consulted as to the cause. The diviner would sit and watch the shells until a mona
— a small lizard — would run out of one of them; the shell from which the lizard proceeded being carefully
noted. Presently from a second shell another lizard would appear and the two would fight. If one was killed
it would be regarded as a proof that the person had been killed by someone from the village represented
by the shell out of which the victorious lizard issued. The friends of the deceased would then proceed to
264 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
The following is just as it was told to me, " Suppose two fellow they want one
girl, girl he stop another town, girl he like one boy, boy he come out of his place,
girl he come out too, they get married, the zogo le they find him out, they look, they
see mokeis (a rat) come out of shell, mokeis all same girl, then they savvy."
The appearance of a kwarwei (a kind of wild fowl, smaller than a Megapodius)
foretold the approach of a canoe coming from that particular quarter whence the fowl
emerged from the bush, and its behaviour indicated how soon the canoe may be expected.
A spider in its web foretold that a white-man's ship would sail to Mer from the
direction in which the web was situated ; the spider's web being like the rigging of
a ship.
Should a stream of ants come from the bush to the northward of the zogo, the
diviners expected a visit from the natives of New Guinea, and if the ants carried their
cocoons (the so-called ants' eggs) in their mouths, it meant that the men would bring
some sago with them ; since the sago imported into the islands is always made up
into elongated oval bundles.
If the ants had small sticks in their mouths, it would indicate that the New Guinea
men were bringing arrows for barter.
If a red spot was seen on a leaf, it signified a fight, and its position showed
whence the danger might be expected.
When an evil-scented fungus sprung up within the area of the stones, there would
be a famine, or at all events a scarcity of yams.
If there was no 'news,' nothing would happen.
Supposing the zogo was consulted for a definite purpose and no answer vouchsafed.
The men sat watching patiently till the sun was high, then they consulted together,
and probably agreed that the silence indicated a "big sick," and that some sickness
or epidemic was in store for the island.
In this instance, as in all other cases where zogo mer were spoken, we found it
extremely difficult to get the zogo le to tell us what they said. Mr Ray obtained the
following :
Tomog aizir1 Daudai dasmer, Daudai tag emariklei*, Daudaiem dasmer.
Tomog Daudai see Daudai hands to Daudai look.
Tomog aizir Erubi dasmer, mi Erubem tag amariklei.
Tomog Erub see we to Erub hands.
The formula was repeated, substituting the names of the following islands Dauar,
that village and demand payment for the death of their friend, or fight. Should no lizard appear, after
watching for some time, the diviner would declare that the deceased had died from sickness and not from
foul means."
1 Mr Ray cannot make out what this is, and thinks it is perhaps a wrong word. He once wrote it gaizir,
and suggests that it may possibly be Tomoge, At Tomog, isir, beetle (perhaps a small animal of any kind),
Daudai, dasmer, sees. The word azer means " go back."
2 Mr Ray suggests that tag emariklei is a translation of the jargon "send" or "give a hand to," i.e. help;
to stretch out hands = batirimuda. I am inclined to think that this phrase has some connection with the
attitude of the two hands of the zogo le, which point in front of them as they sit when consulting the zogo.
Mr Ray concurs that the phrase would bear the meaning "put forth a hand." The suffix -lei shows that
the subject is in the dual number and the prefix e- that the object is singular.
RELIGION. 2G5
Kaur and Masig for that of Erub. Mr Ray suggests that the proper formula
should be:
Tomoge ese Daudai dasmer mi Daudaiem tag emariklei.
At Tomog if Daudai see we to Daudai hands (two) send.
The version I obtained was :
Tomog gaizir Merem tag amarikle1.
Tomog to Mer hands (two) send.
Tomog gaizir Meri dasmer.
Tomog Mer see.
The formula being repeated for Dauar, Erub, Daudi, Kaur and Masig. I also obtained
the phrase :
Tomog atagima (Tomoge tag emarik, Tomog hand send) matagemarik (ma tag emarik,
you hand send) narem narem, for a boat, for a boat.
What seems clear is that the zogo le invoked Tomog, that they pointed their hands
to some place, and that Tomog (was asked ?) to look at that place. They probably
referred to all the places they could think of, the islands Mer, Dauar, Erub, Masig,
Kaur (probably a general name for the islands to the west), etc., and Daudi, or Daudai,
a part of the mainland of New Guinea. They repeated the formulae quickly and repeatedly,
and it is probable that when a bird appeared, or some other event happened, that the
circumstance was located at the place which they happened to be mentioning at the
time.
The following incidents were told to me as examples of the power and veracity of
the zogo.
On one occasion a large number of men went to New Guinea, and as they were
absent for a very long time the men remaining on Mer thought that the mainlanders
had killed them. Eventually it was decided to ask the Tomog zogo le to consult the
zogo. The first thing next morning several zogo le went to Tomog and sat down in
silence. They saw some ants go from the north to the west, they formed in line and
came to the Sebeg stone, there they entered into a crack in the ground and did not
reappear. The zogo le looked, but nothing further happened, and they decided that their
friends were not dead, but had left the mainland and visited some of the western islands
and would shortly return to Sebeg. They went to Sebeg and informed the people of that
village what they had discovered. And it transpired as the oracle foretold.
The first missionaries to Mer were Mataika and his wife Siau ; they had been brought
from Lifu, in the Loyalty Islands, to Erub in 1872. Towards the end of that year
Mataika crossed over, in a canoe of his own making, to convert the Miriam. After
Mataika had been in Mer for some time he wanted fresh stores, so he went to the head-
quarters of the Mission, which were then at Somerset, Cape York.
Mataika was away for such a long time that Siau became very anxious, and feared
he was dead. Unable to bear the suspense any longer, she spoke to Obra (Saugiz, 6)
who was the head of the Tomog zogo le and said, "Very good you go to your zogo and
1 I was told by one of the zogo le that this meant " We two point hands to Mer."
H. Vol. VI. 34
266 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
ask him where Mataika he stop. I think him dead." He said, "All right tomorrow
small fellow daylight I go."
On consulting the zogo at daybreak next morning, Obra could not see anything
happening in the clearing in the direction of Somerset. After some time two kead1
lizards came out from the bush which lay in the direction of Erub and looked at Obra,
and immediately ran away. Obra came back and said to Siau, " Mataika, he leave Somerset
long time ago, he go to Erub, close up he come." Next morning Obra went up the
hill Gelam, and espied a canoe coming from Erub. He told Siau that Mataika was on
board. When the canoe arrived it was found that Mataika was on board, with one other
man and three boys.
On his arrival Mataika was informed what had been done, and he told the natives
to burn and break up all their other zogo, charms, and images. "They all devil-devil,"
he said, " but good thing you keep Tomog zogo, he speak true. Ah ! he all right, he
all same dream (peim)."
When I first discovered Tomog zogo it was considerably damaged as it had been
burnt by Josiah, Mataika's successor. In 1898 it was in a worse condition, and the
encroaching vegetation and rubbish had to be cleared before we could photograph and
make a plan of it. It was very suggestive to see the reverent affection the old men
displayed for the zogo, and they seemed gratified at the care with which it had been
cleaned and mapped.
Shortly afterwards, the mamoose Arei consented to give us a private rehearsal of the
method employed in consulting the zogo, and one or two of our party went with him
just before sunrise in the "old-time fashion." We told the mamoose we were anxious
for the speedy arrival of the Mission vessel, the Nieue, and wanted to know when she
was coming. We heard some birds twittering in the bush, which the mamoose gravely
assured us denoted a boat was approaching. Later in the day George Rotumah's lugger
came in and brought us a mail, so the birds had not twittered in vain.
Skull divination.
A particular form of divination by means of a specially prepared skull was practised
by the elder Samsep le and K6met le, 'both of which groups were Beizam le.
When a mummy, le and, fell to pieces the head was taken (p. 149) and the features
of the deceased were modelled in the black wax of the small wild bee, the eyes were
formed of pieces of nautilus nacre, spots of beeswax serving for the pupils, and pieces
of wood supplied the place of missing teeth. Such a skull, lamar-marik* (lamar, ghost ;
1 In 1889, when I first heard this story, I was told that a kwarwei bird came out of the bush, but in
1898 I was told " two kead came out, they look at that man, he look, he (the two lizards) no fight, he
(they) stop small time."
2 Fig. 51 is a sketch of one of several skulls, now in the Cambridge Museum, that were prepared for
me to show how a lamar-marik was decorated. The wax face is painted with a red line that extends above
the forehead towards each ear-hole, then passes forward about midway across the face and extends to the
tip of the nose. Numerous white feathers are stuck on the face and cranium as in the fiomai mask (fig. 59).
On the forehead is a head-dress consisting of the ordinary coronet of cassowary feathers, which, instead of
forming a broad plume, is tied so as to make two horns, between which are inserted several daumer lub with
notched shafts, two plants of sarik pas are also tied on to the skull. As the skull had no lower jaw an
artificial one of cardboard was added.
RELIGION. 267
emaritc, send forth), constituted when properly employed a divining zogo of remarkable
power (fig. 51). Probably the skulls of only important members of the Samsep le and
Kbmet le were employed for this purpose.
Fio. 51. Lamar-marik, or decorated skull used in divination.
Mr Bruce informed me that any man from whom something had been stolen had
the right to go to a Beizam le and inform him of the theft, should he wish to recover
the object. The Beizam le consulted with his influential fellows, and, if they consented
to act, four of them, before going to the pelak in which the mask of Bomai was kept
(p. 284), went together to Terker, the spot at which Bomai first landed on Mer (p. 38).
There they painted themselves with red ochre and stuck a Torres Straits pigeon's feather,
daumer lub (fig. 64, p. 292), in their hair, and then proceeded to the pelak, taking with
them the lamar-marik of a deceased zogo le. One of the party, who had to be a zogo le,
or a near relative of one, took the Bomai mask and put it on his head, repeating as he
did so some zogo mer. When they had finished the ceremony they left the pelak in
single file, performing a kind of dancing step as they went ; the leader carried the skull
in his left hand, which he held out horizontally in front of him. They kept on till they
heard a fcitoto insect (a kind of locust) making its strident noise, then they followed the
sound of the kitoto until they reached a house, which presumably should have been that
of the thief. When they had been led to a house, they went to the man who had been
robbed and informed him to whose house they had been led. He repaired thither with his
34—2
268
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
friends and destroyed the owner's goods, probably his garden. It was of no use for the man
^ to deny the theft, because the kitoto had indicated him, and the Beizam le were so powerful
that it was as much as his life was worth to resist. He might perhaps expostulate with
his friends should he happen to be a Beizam le himself, but were he a Nog le (an outsider)
it would be useless and he would have to recompense the loser. This operation of thief-
catching must be undertaken just before sundown as that is the time when the kitoto
begins its swishing noise. Sometimes the kitoto leads the finders to where the stolen
article is hidden, in which case they remain content, and do not seek to discover who
had stolen it. The loser is never allowed to accompany the finders. Mr Bruce said, of
course the finders know well enough they are only humbugging, but still natives always
think that others have the power to perform feats.
FIG. 52. A diviner with a lamar-marik.
Baton (Areb, 15), himself a Beizam le of Samsep, informed rne in 1889 that if it
were required to discover the man who by means of maid had made someone ill, several
of the zogo le went at night to the pelak of Bomai, painted themselves red all over, and
otherwise decorated themselves and the lamar-marik1 (fig. 52). The men took ' lukup
belong zogo*." A body with arms and legs was made of banana leaves, and the head was
1 Baton himself dressed up to show me what was done. His head and shoulders were enveloped in a
covering of croton leaves, leaving the face exposed, one large sprig was stuck vertically in his hair. The
skull was similarly decorated, and was not held in the hand, but carried suspended from the leaves; the
actual skull he employed is that shown in pi. XXVIII. fig. 2 ; it is now in the British Museum.
2 These were, taibi, a species of croton; sarik pas, Andropogon nardus ; tarn, cassowary feathers; aud
daumer lub, feathers of the Torres Straits pigeon (Carpophaga).
RELIGION. 269
affixed to the effigy. Then the zogo le chewed the lukup (probably only the sarik pas),
hung the effigy on a tree, and, standing in a row, they blew on the head, spat out the
lukup on it, and asked the head who had hurt the man. All the while the men alter-
nately swung forward each foot (" like drill "), and waited till they heard a kitoto stridulate,
then they bent their heads and rushed blindly on in the direction from which the noise
proceeded. A single kitoto was supposed to guide them to the house of the culprit.
Should the men lose the right direction, the kitoto would wait for them to come up, ever
and again making its noise "sh sh." Ultimately the kitoto arrived at the village or house
where the supposed originator of the illness resided, and then the zogo le took steps to
discover him and to remedy the harm done.
A man who has successfully poisoned or charmed another may boast about it and
so is easily discovered by the victim's friends. Or. he may tell only a few of his own
friends, who may possibly keep the secret ; perhaps he may not confide in anyone, but,
in his joy, he may make a small feast and invite a few friends for no ostensible reason.
So when inquiries are instituted, the question may be asked, "Who has made a feast
lately ? " The answer may form a clue, the following up of which may lead to the discovery
of the criminal.
It is extremely probable that a method of skull-divination took place in the Murray
Islands similar to that which was so common in the western islands (Vol. V. p. 362), but
1 cannot find any reference to it in my notes as being practised in Mer, for Gelam was
still living in Moa when he divined with his father's skull (p. 24). One instance of
divination by means of bones (and presumably of the skull) also occurs in the legend
of Nam zogo (p. 48).
Divination by lice.
The only records I have of the method of divining by means of lice, which also
occurred among the Western Islanders (Vol. V. pp. 19, 20, 361), is found in the folk-tale
of Nargeg and Geigi (p. 17), and in that of Kaperkaper, the Cannibal (p. 53). As the lice
appear to have been always taken from the hair of the head, it is probable that this
method bears some relation to divination by means of heads.
BEIZAM. "^
In a garden at Babud belonging to Jimmy Dei (Sebeg, 4 B) there is a collection
of small stones that were so arranged on the ground as to represent a shark, beizam.
Immediately behind the head of the shark are some five larger stones called kemdoge neur
or "girls beside the body," and behind the dorsal fin is another group of five(?) stones
called waigizsai neur.
Formerly all the old Meaurem le and Komet le were associated in this ceremony. At
the regular time for making their gardens the Meaurem le and K5met le cleared the bush,
dug the ground, and planted their crops ; when this was done the old Meaurem le sent
word to the Komet le to come and help prepare the Beizam. The place was tidied up
and the stones arranged in due order. An oblong bamboo framework1 (fig. 53) was erected;
1 In this sketch I have placed the framework over the shark, which I believe is correct.
270
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
it consisted of four posts, the upper ends of which were connected by two transverse
and two longitudinal bars ; across the centre of the latter were placed two lengths of
bamboo rather close together, and on these were placed two large Fusus shells, maker,
which were brought by the man in whose charge they were (now they belong to Jimmy
Dei (Sebeg, 4 B), and remain on his land in Babud). Five small Fusus shells, maber,
were fastened, mouths downwards, on each terminal transverse bar of the framework ; these
were termed respectively kemdoge neur and waigizsai neur, and were supposed to be girls
sitting on the platform, each of whom was holding a shell in her hand. Hitherto all
this was done in silence ; when all was finished the old men talked. Numbers of men
came to see the Beizam and they said to it, " You take care that we have plenty of
food. You must not permit any man to steal from our gardens, nor rats to eat our food,
nor birds to do damage. You must prevent all this." Then it was left alone.
FIQ. 53. Restoration of the Beizam shrine.
After four or five months, when the yam vines had lengthened, the old man who
was responsible for the shrine decided that it was time to remove the Fusus shells; he
called out, "All you men and women get ready. You and I will go and take the two
shells and leave them in their place." When this was done, the Meaurem and K6met
people went to their gardens in the bush and collected food ; of this they made a great
heap and divided it amongst themselves, giving liberally to those who were especially
concerned in the shrine.
Beizam was a garden shrine that caused yams, bananas, and coco-nuts to be abundant.
It was described to me as being " all same lamar," that is, resembling a spirit or equivalent
I to a spirit ; its kebi nei was nog, which is also the name of a mask1, the idea evidently
being that as a mask may represent a spirit [a mask can also represent a hero, totem,
or object in Torres Straits], so also did the heap of stones. The two large Fusus shells'
were described as being "all same man," they certainly had a very intimate connection
with the shrine, indeed it would seem that their presence was necessary to its functioning.
I believe that this was the earthly representative of the celestial Beizam, the constellation
that is described by Dr Rivers in Vol. iv. The stone girls were supposed to sit down and
take care of Beizam, and their presence proved that this was not a zogo.
1 The mask represented in pi. XXIV. fig. 5 and referred to on p. 256 may have been of a similar nature.
RELIGION. 271
I regret that the account of this shrine is so imperfect, as it appears to be an
ancient cult, and may date back to the transition period when totemism was disappearing,
if indeed it be not yet earlier. It is certainly older than the Bomai-Malu cult, as the
Komet le are Beizam boai and the Meaurem le are Zagareb le; this is one of the argu-
ments in favour of a previous closer connection between the K6met le and Meaurem le
than exists at present (pp. 171 — 174). This cult apparently had no relation whatever to
that of the Beizam boai (pp. 172, 285).
DOGAI.
Dogai is a star1 that rises in the north-east. It is believed to be very powerful -r-
during the period when the north-east wind, naiger, blows (i.e. from October to the end \
of December), since, as they say, it destroys the fish, more especially the octopus, arti, on
the fringing reef. When the women go on the reef at low water and find the arti and
tup (a small fish like a sardine) lying dead, they are very angry with Dogai, as they
then have to search in the night with torches to catch fish. Dogai blights the coco-nuts
so that they fall from the trees, rotten before maturing, and he makes the leaves brown
and shrivelled in naiger time.
When he is situated at the tail of the constellation Beizam, in January, he swings
the shark's tail and thus causes the very high tides, erosia, which occur at night, and
sometimes they break down fences and houses along the beach.
In the north-west monsoon, after a short and severe blow, or during a long gale, the
seas run a long way up the beach and may do considerable damage, which also is due
to Dogai. During the same season fish are frequently found dead, floating in the sea,
and jelly-fish are very numerous; the latter are regarded as his excreta, Dogaira le, and
the fish are supposed to have been poisoned by the pollution of the sea by Dogai. None
of the above misfortunes are attributed to the action of the sun or moon.
I have already given all the available information about the Dogai cult, most of which
and of the foregoing account was obtained from Mr Bruce.
The Dogaira wetpur (p. 209) was commemorated annually in September and October ;
its object may have been to secure a good harvest, or, as Mr Bruce suggests, it may have
been a kind of harvest thanksgiving, as it was held when food was abundant. The two
Dogai masks were worn by representative men at the headquarters of the various groups
in the following order: Bak, Mergarem le and Geaurem le; Kabur, Zagareb le; Mear,
Piaderem le ; and Zer (where the masks were permanently housed), Samsep le. The masks
were not zogo, as is proved by the fact that the places where the ceremonies were held
were cleaned and prepared by women.
The Dogaira wed were sung in connection with the appearance of a tall man, wearing
a mask, who represented Dogai at funeral ceremonies (p. 143) ; the following were the keber
1 Mr Bruce thinks it is Mars, but he is not sure, it appears to him to be red. He also speaks of Dogai
as being of the male sex, though I was told it was female, which is more probable from the analogy of
the Western dtigai, but I have not ventured to correct Mr Bruce.
272 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
wed or omana1 : Dogai erosia guie tamana sabisabi uaiemana ataiemana ses-eba palemen
kroik (or kororia) bugebuge"*.
Mr Bruce gives the following free translation : " The star Dogai causes the high
night-tides to come from the sea, and when the surges from the breakers strike the beach
they spread out over the low ground above high-water mark, then they flow back and
rejoin the sea, and once more they separate."
Doubtless this is the sense as explained to him by his informants and as they under-
stood it. Mr Bruce states that Dogai is introduced after the other keber are finished.
Mr Bruce says that Dogai belongs to K6met. I must confess I cannot reconcile
this statement with the fact that the Dogaira wetpur was confined to all the peoples on
the opposite side of the island, that is if there is any relation between the two ceremonies,
for one would expect the Dogaira keber to be the funeral ceremony of those people who
participated in the Dogaira wetpur.
The Dogaira wed are in the western language, and it will be remembered that there
is throughout the western islands a belief in a class of powerful and usually malignant
beings termed dbgai, who are always of the female sex (Vol. v. p. 353).
I am inclined to regard the Beizam cult as belonging to the western half of Mer
(excluding the Peibre or Dauer le, who seem to be excluded from an active participation
in so many other cults) and the Dogai cult as belonging to the eastern half. As in
the case of the Beizam, the latter cult ignores all distinction between Beizam boai and
Zagareb le. If my suggestion be correct, it would be tempting to hazard the guess that
they might represent in some way the two lost phratries which we imagine must have
existed at one time (p. 174).
CULTS WITH INITIATION CEREMONIES.
It seems probable that there were formerly several cults with preparatory initiation
ceremonies, but with one or two exceptions they appear to have dwindled away on account
of the predominance of the Bomai-Malu cult.
It was noted on p. 142 that there was an initiation ceremony connected with the
Baur siriam. In footnote 1, p. 129, it was suggested that the term siriam was originally
equivalent to the western kwod (Vol. v. pp. 3, 365), and this coincides with Mr Bruce's
belief that each siriam ceremony had its own special " supernatural function." The western
kwod was a more or less strictly tabooed area where various ceremonies were performed,
and it was the focus of the social, political and religious life of the men. It is probable
that among the Western Islanders each totem clan originally had its own kwod. We
know also that funeral ceremonies were performed in certain kwod. I am of the opinion
that in early days the Miriam were organised in a similar manner to the Western Islanders,
and that each local (totemic ?) group had its taboo-ground where lads were initiated, and
1 Omen, according to Mr Kay (Vol. in. p. 156), is "said of the kolap (top) when spinning" — omana is probably
the same word, and probably means " humming."
a Here I have given Mr Bruce's words in their original spelling, a slightly emended version is given on
p. 143, where however eras ia should have been erosia.
RELIGION. 273
where ceremonies were held, some of which almost certainly had for their object the
control of plants, animals, or the elements, while others in all probability were associated
with the death of a member of the local group. It is possible that the importance of
these local ceremonies was becoming diminished even before the arrival of the Bomai-Malu
cult ; a contributory factor to this may have been the relative dense population of the
small island and the intermingling which would necessarily occur. The importance of
the control of nature for the needs of man would prevent these particular ceremonies
from dying out and the conservatism in all that relates to death would tend to preserve
funeral ceremonies. Mr Bruce has repeatedly drawn my attention to the fact that the
keber1 ceremonies were introduced by Waiet (pp. 12S, 139 footnote, 279), and the
natives emphatically assert that " Bomai came before Waiet." The Western Islanders
certainly regarded Waiat (as they called him) as one of the principal introducers of death-
dances from New Guinea (Vol. v. pp. 48 — 55) ; possibly the innovation that he introduced
was the employment of masks. Funeral ceremonies must have been performed previously ;
but there can be no doubt that a new ritual had been introduced from New Guinea,
which subsequently spread to the Murray Islands, and this is, I think, the explanation
of the statement that the keber ceremonies were introduced by Waiet.
So far as our evidence goes there are only a few cults of any importance which retain
traces of old initiation ceremonies, these are : the Irmer gali connected with rain-making
(p. 195), the Baur siriam (p. 142), the Meket siriam, and perhaps the Waiet zogo (p. 277).
I include the last among these as I suspect that certain culture influences associated with
the name of Waiet were grafted upon an older indigenous erotic cult.
The initiation ceremonies of the Bomai-Malu cult admittedly belong to a later period ;
and to a subsequent period belongs the whole, or a part (but not probably the whole),
of the initiation ceremonies connected with the Waiet zogo.
MEKET SIRIAM ZOGO.
Meket siriam was described as " a small zogo, like Malu," into which lads were initiated ;
the same term, kesi, was applied to the initiates as was employed in the Malu ceremonies.
Women, girls, and small boys were not allowed to be present. It was distinctly stated not
to be a keber, or to have anything to do with death.
Meket siriam belonged to Ulag, Las, Areb, Eger, Er, and Werbadu (that is, to the
Zagareb, Samsep, Geaurem and Mergarem divisions, p. 170) on the eastern side of Mer,
and to Sebeg on the western side ; but the ceremonies took place only at Areb and Sebeg.
The following brief account applies solely to the Areb ceremony ; all the information I have
about the Sebeg ceremony is that it occurred on the sand-beach and was distinct from the
other, though doubtless it was very similar.
The Areb ceremony took place on the beach before daylight when the morning star
shone, and it ceased at sunrise. I have no information on what occasion the ceremony was
performed, nor how often. The following is the Meket song that was then sung:
laba dudiaba gebariaba mukSriaba tatarmaiike.
1 I suspect that confusion has arisen between the words keber and siriam, and that they have been employed
interchangeably in certain instances. We have the definite statement that the zero, markai keber, which was
one of those introduced by Waiet, was not a siriam.
H. Vol. VI. 35
274
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
Mr Ray recasts and translates this as follows :
laba, far away, lit. foreign, Dudipa to Dudi (in New Guinea), Gebaripa to Gebari
(? Gaba island), Mukeriaba, to Muker (Muker is the Miriam name for Cap Island), dada-maik,
will divide, or tata-maik, will make talk indistinctly (?so as not to be understood).
Dr Myers obtained the following version :
Tatarmaike amiaba dudiaba gebariat mirkeriaba,
which appears to be even less intelligible than the former. Accepting Mr Ray's interpreta-
tion, it is difficult to get much sense out of the words and still more so to see their appro-
priateness to the meket siriam, unless it implies, which it is difficult to believe, that
the Miriam warriors had successfully raided peoples in far-away lands who spoke a speech
which they regarded as uncouth. Against this view is the fact that the words belong to
the western language.
The performer of the ceremony wore a meket over the upper part of his face ; this
was a small mask (figs. 54, 55) made of turtle-shell. It consisted of two lenticular pieces,
Fios. 54, 55. Drawings of a meket, made by two natives.
the outer angles of which were much prolonged and turned downwards, the inner angles
were fastened to a turtle-shell nose-piece ; each of the paired pieces was adorned with
cassowary feathers and had a conventional eye in its centre, there was a perforation in
the inner angle, through which the wearer looked (fig. 54). The performer was clothed
with a tolop, or petticoat made of blackened leaves.
MEKET SARIK.
The meket siriam le performed the meket sarik on an afternoon at Murbu or Wabkek
after a successful fight. The ume le (" the men who know ") of this ceremony belonged
to the villages from Mei to Warwe1, inclusive. The last chief officiators, or zogo le, who
wore the masks, were Kober (Las, 14 c) and Bina (Mei, 13 A) ; Dudu (Warwe, 16) and
Madado (Areb, 15 c) being their tami le.
The zogo le were painted red all over, and wore a sort of breast-plate of zim leaves
1 Probably this is not quite correct as I was also informed that on the last occasion of the ceremony
Azo (Ulag, 12) and Joe Brown (Er, 18 c) were the sSsari le, or men who formed the rear of each column;
it is therefore probable that the dancers could come from any of the villages mentioned in connection with the
meket siriam.
RELIGION.
275
and a petticoat of the same leaves, aim nesur (fig. 56). Each mask1, which was made
of turtle-shell, represented a human face with eyes of nautilus nacre ; it was surmounted
by a large crescent measuring about a metre from tip to tip, a simple pattern was incised
along its border, a black-tipped, white feather projected from each point and two rattle-
seeds, gba, hung from the same spot. From the chin of the mask extended a rope about
two metres in length, to which were attached numerous human lower-jaws; this was
held up in front of each zogo le by his tami le. The zogo le also wore on his head a
FIG. 56. Zogo le and tami le of the meket sarik.
large corouet of cassowary feathers. He held in one hand a stone-headed club and the
forefinger of the other was inserted through the nose-perforation of a decapitated head.
The tami le were also painted red, and wore a zim petticoat. The masks, including the
meket, were kept in a crevice or cave, seke kur, in the lava stream at Murbu.
Only men were allowed to be present at this ceremony, and they assembled in
numbers, were painted red, decorated in full war accoutrements and carried bows and
1 I had a model made of the mask used in the war dance (fig. 57), as there was no original specimen
on the island. It is of wood and the crescent measures 513 mm. from tip to tip ; this is certainly smaller
than was the original mask. It is painted white with a border of slate-grey, the lower border has red bars,
the face is grey with red margin to the forehead, and the nose and cheek folds are white, the triangle included
by the latter is red, the eyes are of nautilus nacre with black wax pupils, and human-hair eyebrows. The
cord is about 70 cm. long, attached to it at intervals are notched white feathers and shells of bivalved
molluscs (Barbatia).
35—2
276
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
arrows or stone-headed clubs. They danced in double file, each row being headed by a
zogo le and a tami le. As they danced they sang:
Oub sagara waura zilemi wa titil apamide (or aparuma)
Wind south-east south-east ran yes flower of coco-nut continue to open are broken off
ye ye karuma la ffugu1 zapia (or gugu zaba).
a lizard gugu bird along the things (properly zapuia)".
FIG. 57. Model of a mask worn at the meket sarik.
The foregoing information was obtained from Wanu (Areb, 15 A) at Wabkek, he said
that the au nei for the ceremony was zogo, and that meket siriam was a kebi nei.
1 Cf. Vol. v. fig. 47, p. 311.
- I am indebted to Mr Bay for this suggested translation; all except sagara=sager appear to be western words.
RELIGION. 277
The Tur siriam keber (p. 142) was one of the special funeral ceremonies of the ineket
siriam le, and was probably restricted to the larger group of the Samsep (p. 170).
Mr Bruce states that Pager (p. 133), who has nothing to do with Terer and Aukem
(p. 131), was introduced by Waiet (pp. 128, 279); he is strictly connected with the meket
siriam zero, markai keber. Elsewhere he says, " Pager is a keber, this particular keber
belongs to the Komet le, and comes on the scene (as in pi. V. fig. 1, which was taken
at Sebeg) after all the other keber ceremonies are finished, he is the final episode in the
death ceremonies." From this it would appear that the representation of Pager was
peculiar to the meket siriam keber that was performed at Sebeg, which is a village in the
district of Komet. For the present it must be left an open question whether this funeral
ceremony was confined to the meket siriam le of Sebeg, or whether all the Komet le
participated in it.
In the Truro Museum there is a crescentic object (pi. XXVIII. fig. 5) with the
following label : " An ornament worn by the natives of Murray's Island in some of their
war dances, presented by Lieut. G. B. Kempthorne, I.N." I have very little doubt but
that it is the chest ornament of the Tur siriam le (pi. XXVII. fig. 5) or the upper
portion of a mask of the meket siriam le (fig. 56). To the rigid framework are attached
numerous mouths of cowry shells, the teeth of which are reddened; the upper edge is
sewed round with reddened sennet to form a herring-bone pattern symmetrical to the
middle line <«>» ; the lower border is bound with a New Guinea belt. The length
from tip to tip is T17 m. (3ft. 10 in.), the greatest breadth is 157mm. (G^ins.).
THE WAIET ZOGO.
Waiet (Waiat or Waiad) was represented by a turtle-shell image of a man, about
92 or 122cm. (3 or 4ft.) in height, which reclined against the railings of the platform
of a canoe. No women were allowed to see these zogo lu, sacred objects, which were
kept in a cave high up in the large cleft, au kes, which traverses the crescentic wall of
the rock of Waier, to the right of the great fallen block of volcanic ash, " Korsor," shown in
fig. 1, pi. XXIII. The zogo ground is now overgrown with vegetation, it lies about
27'o m. (30 yds.) from the sand beach and contains a columnar upright stone 46 cm. (18 in.)
high, surrounded by large Fusus shells, arranged radially.
Mr Bruce had a model made of Waiet which he presented to the Cambridge Museum
(pi. XXII. fig. 6). It is 337 mm. (13J in.) high and carved out of soft wood. The head and
face are black, the white decorations can be seen in the figure, there is a red line round the
face, down the centre of the sides of the face and along the sides of the white triangles red
spots alternate with the white. The body is black down to the knees, the rest of the legs
and the upper arms are black, the forearms yellow and the hands red. The neck is red and
a red triangle is painted on the body in front and behind with the base uppermost and the
apex extending in the middle line to the waist. The head is decorated with two dari, one
of turtle-shell trimmed with cassowary feathers and a red loada, bean ; the other is indicated
by five white feathers, cut like a V. (In the original these head-dresses would have been
carefully made and elaborately decorated dari of white feathers, as will be found described in
Vol. iv.) Round the brow of the original was a headband to which were fastened the ribs
278 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
of men and women, end lera bir lid. In the model there is a necklet of three wooden pendants
in front and one behind, these represent the pieces of bamboo and bones of dead people of
the original, these rattled with a peculiar noise wherever he went. From the girdle round
the waist is suspended a pubic shell. The right hand holds a warup drum and tucked under
the arm is a star-shaped stone-headed club, saurisauri. A red basket, buzi le epei, is carried
under the left arm.
Mr Bruce also presented to the Cambridge Museum a model of the sal or sale (railings
of the platform of a canoe) which formed the shrine of Waiet. It consists of four pairs of
double bars fastened to three pairs of double bars; the outer bars of the former support six
tall uprights, and the inner bars support four short uprights on each side. A horizontal bar
is tied along each of these four rows. Six transverse bars on each side are fastened by their
centre to the point where the horizontal bar is fastened to the outer row of six uprights,
and their inner end is fastened to the inner horizontal bar, thus forming five square spaces
on each side; these spaces are called sale nebge (framework holes) and they correspond to the
crate-like receptacles in an ordinary caiioe. A long transverse bar, with a central upright
binds the whole together. The model measures 24 cm. square and 17 cm. high (pi. XXI. fig. 1).
All the Dauar and Waier people, and those who lived on the eastern and southern
sides of Mer, from Ulag to Werbadu inclusive, but only those of Deiau on the other
side of the island, could attend this ceremony1. Once a year all these people, men, women,
novitiates and children assembled at Waier, the sandspit on the north-west side of Waier,
and there they piled up a very large heap of food and discussed the arrangements to be
made concerning the initiation of the kesi, or lads to be initiated. They remained here
for one moon (month). The men alone went round by the south side to Ne, here the
two zogo le redecorated the 20(70 lu, which they brought down to the zogo ground and
placed it on the upright stone, standing one on each side of it. The kesi were taken
round by the north-east side of the island, and on arriving at the sand-beach of the bay
they stopped behind a great rock about 82 m. (90 yds.) from the zogo ground. Two men
were sent to fetch the kesi who had to creep on tbeir knees along the sand-beach
all the way to the zogo, keeping their head and body erect and carrying on their shoulders
a heavy load of bananas, yams and coco-nuts, as a present for the zogo le. Each kesi
held in his mouth, between the gums and lips, a large white shell painted red. During
the ceremonies, which lasted for about a month, no man was allowed to wash. On the
last day they all went into the sea to wash. Then for the first time the women and
other outsiders were allowed to leave the north-west side of the island and come to Ne,
where dancing and feasting were carried on. PI. XXIII. fig. 1 is a view of the place
where these ceremonies took place.
There were two zogo le and four tami le associated with this 20(70, the latter attended
on the former, dressed and decorated them; they were the masters of ceremonies in
connection with the rites. Kriba of Waier (29) was the head zogo le and had as his
tami le Kalki of Warwe (16 B) and Kabe of Ormei (25 A); Sagiba of Areb (15) [Bruce
1 This is from information I obtained, but Mr Bruce says " all people, men, women, and children, came
under it and yearly there was a pilgrimage of all the people of Murray and Dauar to the shrine on Waier.
Every soul on the place went there at the time of the preparation of the shrine by the zogo le. All the
men and novitiates (kesi le) lived on the south side, and the women on the north side of the island."
RELIGION. 279
says of Las] was the second zogo le and he had for his tami le Sinono of Terker (20 A)
and Lui of Kameri (26 A).
Mr Bruce informs me that Waiet was a spirit, lamar, and could fly from Waier to
any place he chose, his principal occupation was defiling women, girls and men. He had
connection with any woman he wished for and always took as tokens the woman's petticoat,
nesur, a sample of her pubic hair, and food from the house. When he returned to his
shrine, the petticoat was placed in one receptacle, sale nebge, of the canoe, the hair in
another, and the food under his legs. When the zogo le visited the shrine in the morning
they knew that Waiet had been out on one of his amorous expeditions and professed to
recognise the woman by the tokens. The hair of men was taken from the head. If any
of those associated with the zogo wished to have any woman or man defiled by Waiet
they went to his shrine and petitioned him so to do. This information was largely
obtained from Wauu (Areb, 15 A).
Putabant Waietum mulieribus menstrua ciere, et ob id eis temporibus uiri cum
uxoribus non cubabant, quod eae tune credebantur Waieti uxores esse. Cum uirgini
menstrua fiebant, mater dicebat ei Waietum iniisse earn et penem eius infantem in
utero necauisse, ex quo sanguis defluxerat. Putabant quoque ueretrum Waieti prae-
grande et spinis multis ac longis instructum esse, et testiculos eius pro rata magnos.
In a small cave to the west of the Waiet zogo are two upright slabs of rock and two
flat, oval slabs on which were painted a human face. These are the au kosker or " big
women," who lived in the cave at the time when Waiet was living close beside them ; but
he did not know of their existence until one day when he was beating his drum, and
the bushes were waving in the wind as if they were dancing (this description was given
me by my informant), he looked up and saw the two women dancing in a circle, counter-
clockwise, on the sand-beach, with arms crossed over their breasts. Waiet continued
beating his drum until the women returned to their cave. When we visited the cave
both of the heads had fallen down and one was much water-worn, but we restored one
to its position to take the photograph shown in pi. V. fig. 2. I was unable to learn
anything further about the au kosker.
In the previous volume I have given all I have been able to gather about Waiat,
to give him his western name ; according to the western folk-tales he came from the
Katau River on the mainland of New Guinea in company with Naga, a famous culture
hero who instructed the Western Islanders in singing and dancing and in everything
relating to the kwod, and he also introduced death-dances (Vol. v. p. 49). In one version
Naga went to Uga, an eastern island, and according to another version, Waiat visited
Mer. Waiat stole from Nagir some masks that Naga had made, and took them to
Mabuiag, subsequently he was killed in Widul, a small island off Mabuiag. In Mabuiag
Waiat appears to have had some connection with death ceremonies (Vol. v. p. 252) and
a special death-dance was performed by the zarar markai at Widul and at Gumu, a
spot on Mabuiag also associated with Waiat, after, and independently of, the ordinary
ceremonies (Vol. v. footnote p. 253, fig. 34).
Waiet, as the Miriam call Waiat, came to Waier subsequently to Bomai and he in-
troduced the Pager and zera markai ceremonies (pp. 128, 133), and all the keber ceremonies;
hence these are of more recent origin in the Murray Islands than is the Bomai-Malu cult.
280 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
There are several points which are not quite clear about this interesting and very
important cult, for Mr Bruce states that " Waiet's zogo of kog lu (erotic charm, or adultery
thing) was a very powerful zogo ranking next in importance to Bornai." The natives
emphatically state that it was more recent than that of Bomai and that it was introduced
from the west. In the west Waiat was clearly associated with the markai ceremonies,
which he and Naga are stated to have introduced from New Guinea (Vol. v. pp. 48 — 55);
many, if not all, of these came along with the cult to the Murray Islands (p. 273), where they
were added to, or incorporated with, the original death ceremonies, for it is impossible to
believe that all funeral ceremonies were introduced by Waiet. According to Mr Bruce,
all the Miriam, but according to my inquiries only some of them, were associated with
this zogo, in either case it is significant that the participants were not confined to any
one of the main groupings of the Miriam, but were open to Beizam boai, Zagareb le and
Dauereb le (pp. 172, 173). The essential cult of Waiet was apparently primarily of an
erotic character, and two alternatives present themselves: (1) either this was an
old cult which was reorganised somewhat on the lines of the Bomai-Malu cult, after the
introduction of the Waiet cult, in which case a syncretism has taken place ; or (2) the
erotic element formed part of the original cult and was introduced with it into the
Murray Islands. I am inclined to take the former view as there is no indication in the
western folk-tales of an erotic tendency on the part of Waiet.
In the cult of Waiet we have a record of the worst side of the character of the Miriam,
for, reading between the lines, it is evident that the initiates, masquerading as Waiet,
actually did defile women and girls and perform other abominations, but it is only fair to
add that we have obtained no other record of sodomy. We have no information whether
the nefarious practices of the initiates were indulged in whenever desire or opportunity
arose or were confined to an annual period of license.
THE CULT OF BOMAI AND MALU1.
BY A. C. HADDON AND C. S. MYERS.
THK cult of Bomai and Malu was a very important factor in the social and religious
life of the Miriam. It consisted of the following elements:
PAGE
The Origin and Nature of the Ceremonies . . . 281
The Places and Times of the Ceremonies . . . 284
The Participants 285
Ritual Decoration and Ritual Objects .... 289
Ritual Songs and Sentences ...... 296
The Ceremony at Dam 303
The Ceremonies at Gazir and Kiani .... 306
The Ceremony at Las 308
The Instruction of the kesi . . . . . . 310
Magur 311
Funeral Ceremonies . . . . . . . 312
THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF THE CEREMONIES.
Although the initiation and other ceremonies connected with the cult of Bomai and
Malu were of supreme importance to the Miriam, it is interesting to note that they
were admitted to have been introduced by natives of the western islands.
It would seem that the most sacred element in the cult centred round the person
of Bomai. He was called upon in time of danger, as for example : when a canoe capsized,
or, when someone was ill, a man of the Beizam boai would go to the house where the
Bomai mask was kept and implore help for his sick friend.
Attention has already been called (footnote 1, p. 37) to the fact that there is
some apparent confusion as to the identity or duality of Bomai and Malu. In nearly
all the accounts, collected by ourselves and others, of the legendary origin of the cult
the name of Malu alone appears, but one of us has obtained information mainly from
Groggy and Enoka which makes it certain that these were two distinct individuals.
We have sufficient evidence to prove that the name of Bomai was too sacred to be
imparted to a non-initiate. No difficulty was experienced by us or others in learning
1 A short account of this cult was published in the Internationales Archiv filr Ethnographic (Bd. vi. 1893,
pp. 140 — 146, with one coloured plate) by A. C. Haddon.
H. Vol. VI. 36
282 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
the greater part of the myth of origin, but the hero who came to Mer was invariably
spoken of as Malu. It was only under exceptional circumstances that we were informed
that the name of this hero was really Bomai, and that Malu came later. The only
explanation we can offer is that in ordinary narration the name of the less sacred
individual was employed as a cloak for that of the more sacred. Indeed we were definitely
told that agud was the au nei, " big," i.e. important or general " name " ; Malu was the
kebi nei, " small name " ; and Bomai the gumik nei or " secret name " — it was described
as "big zogo."
Bomai came from Tuger, a place beyond the boundary between British and Nether-
lands New Guinea, and underwent numerous metamorphoses and various adventures
during his wanderings amongst several of the western islands of Torres Straits. According
to one account, on his way as a canoe from Nagir to Yam he gave origin to two men
Sigar and Kulka ; Sigar remained at Yam, and later Kulka stayed at Masig. According
to another version, four brothers Bomai [Malu], Seo or Seiu, Sigar, and Kulka came
from Muralug; Sigar stopped at Yam1, Kulka went to Aurid, and Seo to Masig, while
Bomai went to the Murray Islands. Maino of Tutu and Yam said that Malu, who went
to Mer, was the eldest brother, and Sau, who went to Masig, was the youngest; Sigai
and Maiau of Yam and Kulka of Aurid were also brothers of Malu, these three could
be seen by the same men, who were not permitted to see Malu or Sau. Apparently Bomai
was the maternal uncle, wadwam, of Malu ; Dr Rivers has pointed out (Vol. v. pp. 134,
144) the importance of this relationship. On arriving at the Murray Islands, Bomai at
first went to Dauar and Waier, but finally went to Mer. Bomai appeared to a Miriam
woman named Kabur who lived with her husband Dog at Aud immediately behind
Terker. She recognised him as a zogo, in spite of his being in the form of an octopus.
Later her brothers, Dam and Samekep (who lived at Dam), at the instigation of the
Las men, stole the zogo from Dbg. Eventually D6g allowed the Las men to keep Bomai
(pp. 33—40, 44—46).
The Omai le (Dog men), Daumer le (Pigeon men), Geregere le (Geregere-bird men),
Beizam le (Shark men), Wazwaz le (Wazwaz-shark men), and Zagareb le came from
Tuger to seek Bomai ; on their way they were joined by the Nagirem le* from Nagir
and the Sigarem2 le from Yam and Tutu, and also by men from Waraber, Parema,
Aurid, and Masig.
Malu came in the canoe with the Sigarem le. Eventually the canoes came to Dam
and Las, and, after they had outstayed their welcome, the visitors gave an exhibition
of the Malu dances on the sand-beach at Las, and the Nagirem le and Sigarem le
told the Las men that the dance was thenceforth theirs and that it was connected with
Bomai and Malu. Malu, who was a man with a shark's head, stopped in a canoe off
Dam, the Nagirem le speared him and threw him into the sea ; he was picked up by
Tagai, a Las man, who took him to the shore and placed him on some logs of coco-
nut wood. The visitors returned to their homes (pp. 40 — 44).
1 In Pasi's version of the legend (Vol. HI. p. 233) the word aniege is unfortunately translated "by oven"
(ame, earth-oven), but Am is the Miriam name for Yam island; what Pasi meant to say was that Sigar stopped
at that island.
* On pp. 41 — 44 these names are epelt aa they were ordinarily pronounced, but the suffix -em is more correct.
THE CULT OF BOMAI AND MALU. 283
This is part of a hero-cycle of which versions of other sections have been previously
narrated (cf. Vol. v. pp. 64, 375), but these accounts make the heroes come from Australia, \/
like Kwoiam, the western war hero ; whereas the Miriam, who appear never to have
had any dealings with Australian natives, refer the seat of this cult to the mainland
of New Guinea, but, be it noted, much further to the west than any part which they
were in the habit of visiting.
One or two incidents are related of " Malu " (probably it was really Bomai) which
do not occur in the folk-tales as told to us. We were informed that he made the two
water-hbles, Warber and Goi1, which lie behind Las. On the other hand, a folk-tale
records that they were made by Iruam (p. 7) and Mr Bruce informs us that they really
had nothing to do with Bomai. These two names occur in the ritual songs (pp. 297, 300,
302). We can only suppose that the names of these water-holes have become confused in
the minds of some natives with those of the islands of Waraber and Goi (footnote 1, p. 302).
Malu drank the water at Izib, the creek at Kiam (p. 299). It is supposed that
if anyone now drinks this water his body will swell up to an abnormal size, as happened
to Malu. Mr Bruce states that there are many other restrictions connected with Izib
or Kiam, but we have no information as to what they are.
We regret we cannot throw any light upon the origin or significance of Bomai and
Malu beyond what is mentioned in the legend. It is interesting to note that all the
animal dances — dog, Torres Straits pigeon, geregere-\>ird, shark, and wazwaz-sh&rk — probably
came indirectly from the mainland of New Guinea, where totemism is still rife, but
directly from the western islands. Their possible relation to totemism has already been
discussed (p. 255).
This cult appears to have developed into a secret society or religious fraternity
which took upon itself disciplinary functions ; indeed it was very similar to some of the
secret societies that are found in Melanesia.
There can be no doubt that the Bomai-Malu zogo le frequently utilised the power
which their position gave them for purely personal ends. For example, Mr Bruce says
that Koit (Las, 14 A) was the only man who is known to have had as many as three
wives at the same time. As he was one of the chief 20*70 le connected with Malu he
could no doubt have had more, should he have wished for them, as all he had to do
was to go into a village and commandeer whatever women he wanted for himself and
his friends, and no one would dare to refuse or obstruct him, on penalty of getting their
homes burned down, their gardens destroyed, or possibly of being killed through maid.
Payment, apart from a present of food, was not necessary to ensure initiation, and
though there were grades there was no advancement in rank. One well-marked feature
of the cult was that certain functions of the various ceremonies could be undertaken s
by men of definite districts only. The Murray Islands were so small that everything
was strictly regulated, every man's position was perfectly well known, and his social
and religious duties were fixed by the mere fact of parentage (real or by adoption),
1 These are shallow surface holes which are always dry, except in the rainy season when the ground is
saturated with water, they then hold a little brackish water for a very short time. Mr Bruce says that in
former days the natives had no wells, or vessels for catching rain-water, excepting shells, so doubtless even these
poor water-holes were acceptable to them.
36—2
284 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
or perhaps it would be more correct to say that they were fixed by his father's dwelling-
place.
We may take it for granted that every man was born with prospective privileges,
but he could enjoy these only after undergoing certain ceremonies. At all events this
applied to the majority of males. There were a certain number, such as the Tebud of
Peibre, who had no right to participate actively in these ceremonies, though they provided
food for the ceremonial feasting; and further there were the Nog le of Gigo who took
no part whatever in the cult.
The entrance into the fraternity consisted of two initiation ceremonies. The ceremony
at Dam was probably connected with the wandering of Bomai, and that at Gazir (or
Kiam) was the important occasion upon which the sacred masks were exhibited to the
initiates. The initiates were instructed in social, economic, and ethical procedure and
v were warned not to reveal the secrets, the warning being enforced by terrorising and
even ill-treatment. A public ceremony took place at Las, which was a virtual acknow-
ledgment that the youths had been duly initiated and were thenceforth to be recognised
as members of the fraternity ; it was on this occasion that the animal dances were
performed. Finally when a man died he was entitled to certain funeral ceremonies
according to his status.
THE PLACES AND TIMES OF THE CEREMONIES.
The three sacred grounds, au kbp, where the initiation ceremonies were held, were
at Dam, Gazir, and Kiam. The kbp of Dam was situated in the bush about twenty-
three metres (25 yds.) from the sand-beach ; that of Gazir was situated on the plateau
south-east of Las in a brake of bamboos ; the kbp of Kiam lay between the bed of
the stream and the sand-beach.
The ceremonies held at Dam were peculiar to that place, those performed at Gazir
and Kiam were of the same nature, but the former were the more important; this fact
is curiously illustrated in the kamut (string-figure) intended to represent these two
sacred grounds, in which Gazir is indicated by the larger ring (cf. Vol. iv.).
When ceremonies took place a Malora gelar, taboo for Malu, was placed on the
sand-beach opposite to each end of the particular kbp, and no unauthorised person could
pass that way. The gelar was indicated by wis, or tall bamboos decorated in a particular
manner (fig. 48, p. 247).
At all three spots there was a sacred house, p%lak or pSlag, in which the emblems
were kept. The pelak (pi. XXX.) was of the conical shape characteristic of the ordinary
dwelling houses.
In referring to another matter, Mr Bruce wrote that the site of his house, which is in
Nani-pat at Baur, was one of the zogo places in connection with a Malu ceremony ; that was
one of his principal places, or giz. Another Malu ceremony was held at Gigred, but that
was considered of secondary importance. Both these places are in Peibre. Nani-pat was
the furthest place Dog reached in his walk on the day after he had obtained Bomai
(footnote 2, p. 39) ; the following day he reached Begegiz, which is adjacent to Gigred.
Unfortunately we have no knowledge of the ceremonies which were carried on in these
THE CULT OF BOMAI AND MALU. 285
two places, we should probably have heard of them had they been important; and it is
hardly likely that the Tebud (p. 287) would have any particularly sacred rite connected
with the cult.
Begegiz, where Malu first landed on Mer (p. 37), and And, where he was first housed,
are held in reverence ; at these and the other Malora zogo ged (Malu's zogo places) there
is always a clump of bamboos.
It was remarkably difficult to get precise information as to when the Bomai-Malu
ceremonies took place or to ascertain the exact order of what took place ; all the accounts
were vague and often contradictory and therefore we cannot vouch for the absolute
accuracy of the following account of the sequence of the events.
The ceremony at Dam.
The Gazir ceremony of initiation and exhibition of the sacred masks was held
early in the morning of a day at the beginning of the south-east monsoon, that is
about April.
The public ceremony with the Malu dances took place on the afternoon of the same
day on the sand-beach at Las.
At the beginning of the following south-east monsoon the Bomai mask was trans-
ferred from Gazir to Kiam, where it remained all through that dry season.
When the rains began, the Bomai mask was taken back to Gazir and remained
at Dam during the north-west monsoon. One informant said it remained for one year
at Dam before passing on again to Gazir.
So far as we could make out, the first ceremony took place at Dam and lasted for
two days. The following year the ceremonies took place at Gazir and Las ; one informant
said they sang " Emare" for three days and magur appeared on two nights. The final
ceremony took place at Kiam the following year and lasted for one or two days. Thus
the whole cycle took three years to complete. The .Bomai mask was worn only at the
Dam, Gazir and Kiam ceremonies, and there was a pelak for this mask at each place.
The Malu mask never left Gazir.
THE PARTICIPANTS.
As was previously mentioned (pp. 169 — 178) the whole of the Murray Islands were
divided into districts, the male inhabitants of which had actual or potential rights in
virtue of hereditary domicile. The same applies to the right to participate and the
method of participation in the Bomai-Malu cult. The following are the main groups of
the Murray Islanders : the Beizam boai, the Zagareb le, the Tebud and the Nog le ; the
location of each group is given in the description of that group. The subsidiary groups
will be dealt with in due course.
Apparently there was a similar or analogous cult in Erub, as half of the Erub le
might come over as visiting members to witness the "working of the lodge."
Beizam boai. The most important members of the Bomai-Malu fraternity were
the Beizam boai, or Beizam le, Shark brethren, or Shark men. On the western side
of the island they resided in the villages from Zaub to Larte, inclusive, and on the
286 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
eastern from Dam to Warwe and from Mergar to Terker ; thus they belonged to the
geographical divisions of Komet, Samsep (in the larger sense) and Mergarem (excluding
Werbadu). At the southern end of the island, the small bay of Keauk was allocated
to the Beizam boai of Dauar when there was a gelar, taboo, on that island. The Dauar
Beizam boai lived at Giar, the western sandspit, and possibly elsewhere, as Kilarup
(Dauar, 28) was a Beizam boai.
The Bomai and Main masks were described as the agud (p. 245) of the Beizam le.
The Beizam boai consisted of two grades, the zogo le and the tami le. They had
charge of the sacred emblems and slept in the bush close to the pelak (p. 284)
probably before and certainly at the time of the ceremonies, and for some weeks after;
finally they washed in the sea and went home.
Zogo le. The zogo le were the temporarily sacred men (or perhaps more accurately
the zogo men) among the Beizam boai who were entitled to wear the masks and take
the leading part in all ceremonies, and in virtue of their office they received all the
presents of food. At any one time there were only three of them : the head zogo le,
who wore the Bomai mask, one called es le (or ernes le), and the man who wore the
Malu mask.
The office of head zogo le, at all events, was hereditary in the B5ged family (7)
for three generations. Malo (which is the same word as Malu) was the earliest holder
of this office of whom we have any record, he was succeeded by his only son Narai,
Kabai and Aumad followed their father. On the last occasion on which the ceremonies
were held, Arus1 (Warwe, 16) wore the Bomai mask. We are told he carried the mask
from Gazir to Kiam. On this particular occasion, Koit (Las, 14 A) was es le to Arus,
and Eski (Las, 14) wore the Malu mask. In 1889 one of us was informed that Aumad
was the last zogo zogo le, which looks as if the authority of Arus as head zogo le
was inferior to that of his predecessor.
An informant stated that on one occasion Mapoi represented Bomai, Ebui (? Giar
pit, 27) was es le, and Marau represented Malu ; but we cannot check this statement
as we have no means of finding out who Mapoi was.
Tami le or Keparem le. Tami le" was the au nei and keparem le the kebi nei
or gumik nei for the same people, sometimes they were called kadik le: The first name
may be derived from tamer, a club. The keparem le were so called from their holding
a wand, like an arrow, kep, in their hands. According to Mr Bruce any pointed piece
of wood sharpened like an arrow, even without barbs, is called a kep. The term kadik le
referred to the ceremonial gauntlet they wore.
The Samsep le and Piaderem le (cf. Map p. 170) were the keparem le or kadik le3.
The Giar le on Dauar were also tami le.
The tami le or keparem le of Arus (see above) were Aisi (Sebeg, 4 B), Komaberi
1 Kabai had a grandson named Arus, who was probably too young to have become a zogo le, as by the
time he had grown up the cult must have been practically obsolete. We do not know why Kabai's only son
did not succeed his uncle Aumad. We have the distinct statement that the latter was followed by Arus, the
father of Marnai.
a We frequently obtained the word tami leb, indeed the two were certainly interchangeable terms. For the
suffix -eb see Vol. in. p. 57.
3 But this did not preclude some of them being also zogo le.
THE CULT OF BOMAI AND MALU. 287
(Keweid, 3), Obra (Saugiz, 6), and Gobai (Warwe, 16 c). The tami le of Koit was lu
(Giar pit, 27) and afterwards Egod (Dauar, 28). The tami le of Eski was Geigi
(Er, 18 B).
The tami le ranked next to the zogo le and assisted them in various ways both
before the ceremonies and after them. More than once they were described as " all same
cook for zogo le," that is they acted as attendants and cooked the food for the zogo le
at the ceremonies. It was said of Gobai that he " made fast Bomai," that is he tied
up, or made secure, the Bomai mask. They lined the avenue down which the three
zogo le passed from the pelak to the kesi at the Gazir ceremony (pi. XXX.).
Zagareb le. The Zagareb le were the male inhabitants of Meaurem and Zagareb at
the north end of the island, and of Geaurem and Werbadu in the east.
They were the warup le, or Drum men, who alone could beat drums ; they sang the
songs and led the dances, hence they were sometimes called wed le, Song men.
Tebud. The Tebud, or Malora tebud, " Friends of Malu," were the Peibre le (or
Dauer le) who lived along the eastern coast from Baur to Dedamud or Pas (one informant
said between Pas and Begegiz).
They claimed to be both Beizam le and Zagareb le. Perhaps because they provided
food for both classes at the ceremonies. They, or some of them, laid special claim to be
Beizam le. There was considerable difficulty in ascertaining the true rank of the men
living from Baur to Begegiz or Gigred (inclusive), the explanation appears to be that at
the extreme ends of this area there were two spots sacred to Bomai (p. 284), and it was
probably for this reason that these Tebud claimed affiliation with Beizam. More than
one informant said, " Tebud no see Malu, Warup le see Malu," which apparently means
that the Tebud were not initiated, and therefore were not allowed to see the sacred
masks.
Their function was to provide food for those engaged in the ceremonies; the food
was probably given to the tami le and Zagareb le as the kesi provided food for the
zogo le.
The smaller groups who participated in the Malu ceremonies were :
Omai le. Those Beizam boai who lived at Zaub and those Zagareb le who lived at
Mek and Er were also Omai le, or Dog men.
Daumer le. Those Beizam boai who lived at B6ged, Las and Areb were also daumer
le, or Pigeon men (daumer is the Torres Straits pigeon, Carpophaga luctuosa).
Geregere le. Those Beizam boai who lived at Zaub and Areb were also
geregere1 le.
Owing to a similarity in the names the Rev. J. Hunt (Journ. Anth. Inst. xxvm.
p. 5) mistook Geregere le to mean " sun people," and he definitely states that the gereger
(sun) was the " totem " of the Oparam le clan who resided at Zaub and the duties of the
clan were to imitate the rising and setting sun. As a matter of fact geregere in this
instance has nothing to do with the sun, the geregere being a small migratory bird that
comes to Murray Island just before the north-west monsoon sets in and leaves about
the end of April. The bird has a red breast and black head and wings, it was described
1 The word as sometimes pronounced might be spelled " gregare" or girigiri.
288 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
as "all same ti," that is, it resembles the sun-bird (Nectarinia). The bird was called a
zogo ebur, zogo animal.
Wazwaz le. The Wazwaz le lived only at Kameri and Ormei on Dauar.
The wazwaz was described as a shark with " whiskers " and very small eyes ; one
informant said it was also called im, in which case it would be the Chiloscyllium, a kind
of dog-fish (cf. Vol. v. p. 45).
Mr Hunt (1. c. p. 6) was informed that the Wazwaz le built the sacred houses.
The men of these four groups performed their respective dances at the Las ceremony
(p. 308, pis. XXV., XXVI. fig. 1). These dances were introduced to Her by Western
Islanders (p. 43). The significance of these groups has been discussed by
Dr Rivers (p. 173) and allusion has been made to them on p. 255. They
appear to have been specially affiliated to Beizam, but some Omai le were
Zagareb.
Kesi. When fathers saw signs of approaching manhood1 they decided it
was time to initiate their sons into those cults to which they were eligible.
We understood that the lads could begin their initiation at any one of
the three triennial ceremonies of the Bomai-Malu cult. The restrictions of the
kesi lasted until the end of the first south-east season, that is for about six
months; during this period they remained on or near the sand-beach which
was then gelar, they were not allowed to play, and the old men instructed
them. One informant said that the father took his son to the kbp and
instructed him and the father obtained and prepared the food2. The zogo le
gave to each kesi a daumer lub (black-tipped white feather of the Torres
Straits pigeon mounted on a stem so that it vibrated readily, fig. 58) which
was worn in the hair, and each also received a special kind of belt called
kus wok (p. 292). The kesi were not allowed to cut or dress their hair for
one year, under a penalty of death. After the following north-west monsoon
had begun they were allowed to dance, sing, paint or otherwise decorate
themselves3, and they had all the privileges of men. At the beginning of
the following south-east season they had a secular dance, kap. The kesi of
the second year were termed ume le, "• those who know," and were taught to FIG. 58.
sing during that south-east season. Daumer lub.
(Non-participants in the Malu Ceremonies.)
Nog le. The Nog le or outside people, that is "foreigners," are descendants of those
who came from other islands after the Bomai cult was established. There were very few
of them, and they had no part in the ceremonies. Even when they died, only dance
1 A small boy is called nokorot (no bare, ko groin); when pubic hair, ko mug, appears, which takes place
when about thirteen years of age, he is called maklrem ; an initiate was called kesi.
2 This is a significant advance upon the western custom, where the lad was in the charge of his mother's
brother, wadwam (Vol. v. pp. 147, 208, 212, 213, 216).
3 No lad could have the lobes of his ears cut at the paier of a relative (p. 154) until he had been presented
to Bomai.
THE CULT OF BOMAI AND MALU. 289
songs, kap wed, were sung over them, instead of the zogo wed of the Beizam boai (p. 145)
or the distinctive ceremonies of the Zagareb le.
According to Mr Bruce the existing Nog le in Mer are Kalki of Warwe (16 B), Sali
or Biro of Sebeg [who is evidently Charlie Boro of Mad (5 A)] and Aki of Gigo (22)
(the Gigo Nog le came from Waraber). The Dauar Nog le are Wasalgi and his relatives
(Teg, 23), and the Waier Nog le are Kriba, Smoke and their relatives (29). The Dauar
Nog le lived at the base of the sandspit that faces Waier and the Waier Nog le lived
on the corresponding sandspit.
The term Nog le was applied to all those who did not belong to any given cult;
the above were simply Nog le as regards the Bomai-Malu cult. When the irmer gali
was held, the ceremonial Malu drums were beaten by Nog le (p. 196) ; perhaps in this
instance they were Beizam boai, as the proper warup le "were all Zagareb le and consequently
were the zogo le of the irmer zogo.
RITUAL DECORATION AND RITUAL OBJECTS.
The zogo le during the ceremony of the exhibition of the masks were painted red all
over, and each was clad in a petticoat of zi leaves (Avicennia officinalis), the es le alone
wore five daumer lub, which stood erect in his hair.
The Bomai mask was made of turtle-shell, painted red and with white feathers stuck
all over it. In 1889 one of us vainly endeavoured to get models made of the Bomai
and Malu masks, as the originals had been destroyed, and it was only with great difficulty
that we succeeded in 1898 in persuading Wanu and Enoka to make models for us out
of the cardboard with which we provided them1. Fig. 59 is a sketch of the Bomai
model, which is now in the Cambridge Museum. The face is about 45 cm. long, the
projection measures an additional 15 cm., the breadth being about 40 cm. The nose is
modelled in beeswax, the eyes, which are wada beans (Mucuna), are set in wax, a strip
of wax extends along the eye bar and another forms the lips. Five daumer lub and
a tuft of croton leaves, taibi, are fastened to the vertical prolongation of the mask and
a beard of human lower jaw-bones (in this case, only cardboard models) completes its
decoration. In order to learn all we could about these masks we induced some natives
to make drawings of them. Fig. 60 is a copy of a drawing made by a native in 1889 ;
owing to the lack of any distinctive features of construction, it led to a mistake in the
drawing of the Bomai mask in the publication referred to on p. 281.
The characteristic feature of this mask is that it consisted of bars, the only other
example of this style known to us is the mask from an unknown provenance in the Pitt
Rivers Museum at Oxford (pi. XXVIII. fig. 6), of which Mr H. Balfour has kindly sent
us a photograph. This mask is 293 mm. long, the face is 168 mm. long and 228 mm.
broad, excluding the remaining ear. The left ear and arm are missing, the right arm
has only four digits. Several gba seeds (Pangium edule) are suspended to the lower
crescent. Unfortunately no information is available with regard to this mask, but there
is no reason to doubt that it came from Torres Straits.
1 See Head-Hunters, Slack, White, and Brown, London, Methnen & Co., 1901, p. 46.
H. Vol. VI. 37
290
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
A turtle-shell model of a turtle1 was loosely tied on to the back of the Bomai mask,
to it was attached a long cord, which was so held by the es le as to prevent it from
flapping against the mask. The general character of the model made for us can be seen
in pi. XXIX. fig. 3. The scutes are indicated by coloured lozenges, triangles and irregular
figures, which are not at all true to nature, the central lozenges are coloured a slaty grey,
as are some of the marginal scutes ; some of the latter are red, and there is a row of
red triangles on each side of the central row of lozenges ; all the other spaces are painted
yellow. A mouth and large eyes and numerous square scutes are painted on the head,
the limbs and tail are decorated with numerous A-shaped bands of red, grey and yellow.
Fia. 59. Sketch of a model of the Bomai mask.
Fie. 60. Native drawing of the Bomai mask.
The Malu mask presented the greatest difficulties for its comprehension, as the
cardboard model that was made for us (fig. 61) is obviously far too small and crude to
give a correct idea of the original ; the man shown in pi. XXIX. figs. 2, 3 is wearing
this model. Probably the original form of the mask was somewhat similar to that so
well figured by Dr A. B. Meyer (" Mask en von New Guinea," etc., Konigliches Ethno-
graphisches Museum zu Dresden, Bd. vn. 1889, Taf. in.), which is stated to come from
Mabuiag. Judging from the model and various sketches made by natives (figs. 62, 63),
it represented a hammer-headed shark (Zygsena), but it was provided with arms and
1 It may have been originally the real carapace of a shell-turtle (Chelone imbricata) with artificial head
and limbs.
THE CULT OF BOMAI AND MALU.
291
F:o. 61. Cardboard model of the Main mask.
Fio. 62. The Malu mask as drawn by a native.
FIG. 63. Sketch by Wanu of the Malu mask.
37—2
292
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
a human face. Behind the latter was an erect panel of turtle-shell, from which projected
five daumer lub arid a spray of croton leaves, taibi. The mask
was further adorned with turtle-shell models of birds, which
were stated to be frigate birds (karor), and the white form of
the reef heron, sir (Demiegretta sacra), and a small grey bird
called tble, as well as of centipedes, isi, and tree-frogs, goai.
Doubtless the margin was further decorated with feathers.
There can be no doubt that the mask was provided with a
head-piece, as in Dr Meyer's photograph, which enabled it to
be worn securely on the head of the zogo le. The Dresden
mask is T25 m. (about 4 ft.) in length, and the Malu mask
was certainly not smaller. On plate XXX. we have drawn
what we consider to be a fairly accurate restoration of this
mask.
The keparem le, as the tami le were termed during the
ceremony of the exhibition of the masks, were painted red all
over, and each carried a long black staff, hence the term
keparem le (p. 286). A daumer lub was worn in the hair,
which unfortunately is not shown in pi. XXX. These and,
with the exception of the three zogo le, all the other partici-
pants were nude.
We are not aware that the Zagareb le were decorated in
any particular manner, but they and all the other ume le, " men
who know," that is, the older initiates, were painted red and
wore daumer lub in the hair (fig. 64).
The kesi of the Beizam boai at the same ceremony had
their arms painted red, a vertical red band was painted along
the middle line of the whole face, a red band extended from
the middle of the nose across the right cheek only, and a red
cross was painted on the navel. A daumer lub was inserted
in the hair (p. 288). On the chest (pi. XXX.) each wore a
pendant, of which the following is a description of one made
for us (pi. XVII. fig. 6). A piece of delicate twisted string
about 1'5 m. long is doubled on itself; 27 cm. from the loop
is a ring of twisted cane surrounding a red wada bean (Mucuna),
6 cm. below this is another, and 5 cm. below that is a third ;
half a coix seed is strung on the lateral cord above each bean.
Round the waist was worn a kus wak. The specimen made for us (pi. XVII. fio-. 5)
consists of a belt of four strands composed of kus seeds (Coix lachrymse) with portions
1 The more complete daumer lub consisted of a black-tipped feather of the Torres Straits pigeon inserted
on a split ruddled quill, the object being to keep the feather in a constant state of quivering. The shafts
of two white feathers were split in a zigzag manner, and one half of each was bent round to form a ring,
these were tied to the base of the supporting quill, to which were also lashed two wooden spikes to serve
as a comb. The total length of such specimens is from 35 to 40 cm.
Fio. 64.
Daumer lub worn by
the ume le1.
THE CULT OF BOMAI AND MALU. 293
of the antennae of a crayfish, kaier (Palinurus), there are about a dozen seeds' between
each portion of antenna, kaier pis (fig. 65). A tassel, worn at the left side, is composed
of five wada beans and three loops of seeds and antennae. In another specimen made
for us the antenna-beads are replaced by tubes of the organ-pipe coral (Tubipora musica),
two seeds alternating with two or three pieces of coral.
Fio. 65. Portion of a straud of a km wak worn by the test.
The kesi of the Zagareb le were painted red, but the central part of the front of the
chest was painted black, and this area was continued round the neck as a broad band,
and obliquely downwards and backwards. We believe they wore the same decoration as
the Beizam kesi.
At the ceremony at Las the three zogo le were painted red and anointed with
turtle-oil, then the white body feathers of the Torres Straits pigeon were plastered all
over their face, body and limbs so that the skin was entirely covered and their features
unrecognisable. The hair was not made into ringlets, ed. On the head was a coronet
of cassowary feathers, in the centre of which were five black-tipped white feathers, daumer
lub. Each held in his right hand five wands, siwaimer or siuaimi (p. 39 footnote 1), and
a large gauntlet, zogo kadik, on the left arm, to the prolongation of which were fastened
three daumer lub, green croton leaves, and gba rattles (pi. XVII. figs. 2, 3, 4, pi. XXVI.
fig. 1).
The tami le (Beizam boai), who joined in the revolving dance, were painted red all over
with a black-tipped white feather uprising from the hair, which was made into ringlets.
The older men held in the right hand a stick, kep, about a metre in length and painted
red ; on their left arm each wore the long ceremonial gauntlet, zogo kadik, which was
decorated with croton leaves and daumer lub (p. 295 fig. 68). The younger men did not
wear the zogo kadik, but carried a stone-headed club.
The Zagareb le were painted red and wore a daumer lub.
The Omai le were painted red, a long plume of cassowary feathers, upi omai (to
represent a dog's tail), in the belt and a bunch of croton leaves hung down behind. A
daumer lub was worn in the hair.
The Daumer le were painted red, except the hands and forearms which were painted
black to represent the black wing pinions of the Torres Straits pigeon, the legs below the
knees were also blackened. They wore on their heads a small semi-circular coronet of white
feathers, from the centre of which projected a long filament, to the end of which was
attached the usual black-tipped white feather daumer lub. A bunch of red croton leaves
was inserted vertically at the back of the belt. They held in their mouths a bunch of
daumer lub and leaves of a scented plant, pas, and of the " wild plum," enau.
1 In an old km wak in the British Museum there are generally fifteen seeds between each portion of
antenna.
294
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
The Geregere le were painted red, and wore a wooden belt, wSskor, and a head-dress
of bird of paradise plumes, degem, in the centre of which were inserted two diverging daumer
lub attached to long fine stems, no cassowary feathers were worn.
We collected a human lower jaw provided with a thick fringe of Coix seeds, with
some small shells intermingled among the seeds, and a loop for suspension round the neck
(pi. XVII. fig. 8). We were informed that it was worn during the Malu ceremonies by
the younger Beizam boai and Zagareb le, but not by the zogo le or tami le.
FIG. 66. Stiuad, an artificially deformed boar's
tusk worn as an ornament.
Fio. 67. Sauad with tally notches.
During the ceremonies connected with Bomai at Gazir and Kiam coco-nut leaves only
were used, all food was presented on coco-nut leaves by the tami le and everyone had to
sit upon coco-nut leaves. This fact was kept a profound secret from the women and all
outsiders, and if any one of them professed to know upon what Bomai sat, that person
THE CULT OF BOMAI AND MALU.
295
was visited with severe penalties ranging from death to having his or her house burnt.
The origin of this custom is explained in the legend of Bomai (p. 35 footnote 4).
The use of definite mats for certain ceremonial purposes is also characteristic of the Western
Islanders (Vol. v. pp. 65, 79).
When the ceremonies were over the important men wore a sauad, or artificially
deformed boar's tusk. Two sauad that we collected had attached to them a couple of
pigs' tails and one had three ; it is possible that these were originally always present.
One of our specimens (fig. 66) forms a complete circle, 10 cm. in diameter. The other
(fig. 67) is a larger tusk, but the circle is incomplete, its chief interest lies in eight
short lines incised near the point, which are tallies memorialising amatory adventures
(pp. 251, 283).
The sauad were of great value as their production was not an easy matter and they
had to be imported from New Guinea. Perhaps it was
for this reason that imitation ones, nasi sauad, were made
locally out of large Turbo shells, nasi. One very fine
specimen (pi. XVII. fig. 7), now in the British Museum,
was collected in 1889, it is 126 mm. (5 ins.) in diameter.
It was probably also after the initiation ceremonies
were over that head men of the Geregere le wore the
remarkable perforated pearl shell ornaments, which may
be regarded as the most beautiful object worn in Torres
Straits. Of these only three specimens are known
to us. One, obtained long ago and loaned by the London
Missionary Society to the British Museum (pi. XXIV.
fig. 3), is about 115 mm. in diameter. A second, presented
by Mr R. Bruce to the Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow1
(pi. XXIV. fig. 1), is about 120mm. in diameter, and the
third, collected by ourselves and now in the Cambridge
Museum (pi. XXIV. fig. 2), is 110 to 117 mm. in diameter.
Although these objects differ slightly from each other, it
is evident the designs are essentially identical. We are
not aware of any ornaments similar to these from any
other locality, they do not appear to us to be characteristic
of the decorative art of the Torres Straits Islanders, and
there are no other examples of the technique of nacre fret-
work, therefore we are inclined to look upon these objects
as importations, but we cannot at present say from what
part of New Guinea they originally came, for they certainly
did not come from Australia.
The zogo kadilc was a special form of arm-guard or
bracer, kadik, which was worn by the Beizam boai (zogo le
FIG. 68. £0.70 kadik.
1 This specimen was stated to have been obtained at Motu-Motu, " The Decorative Art of British New
Guinea" (Cunningham Memoir, No. x. Royal Irish Academy, 1894, p. 133, pi. VIII. fig. 128), but there can be
no doubt that it is the badge of a Geregere le.
296 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
and tami le) in connection with the ceremonies (pi. XXVI. fig. 1). It was longer than
the usual form and from it projected a long rod, to the end of which were fixed one
or more daumer lub. We obtained two specimens of recent make (fig. 68 J and pi. XVII.
fig. 2) which are decorated with croton leaves (taibi), daumer lub, and gba seeds. The
plaitwork construction of the kadik is different from that of the ordinary type, and
resembles that which seems to be characteristic of the Fly River District of New Guinea
(cf. Vol. iv.). In the Royal Ethnographical Museum in Dresden are two arm-guards
(4956, 4957) from the mouth of the Fly River (pi. XVII. figs. 3, 4), which are so similar
to the zogo kadik that we must admit that the Miriam type was borrowed from New
Guinea; possibly these objects were sometimes imported, for, as we have already seen
(p. 185), the Miriam had trading relations with the natives of Kiwai.
There were two sacred Malu drums, named " Neman " and " Wasikor," the first was
burnt by the crew of the Woodlark (p. 190). Wasikor (pi. XVII. fig. 1) is different in
shape from the two kinds of drums (warup and boroboro) which occur throughout Torres
Straits. It is T43 m. long and the tympanum is 20 cm. in diameter, the form and decoration
are sufficiently well indicated in the figure (cf. pi. XXVIII. fig. 1, pi. XXX.).
The sacred Malu clubs, saurisauri, are beautiful examples of simple, unflanged, four-
rayed, stone-headed clubs; the diameter of the head of the two specimens we examined
is 28 cm. (11 in.) from point to point. The handle gradually tapers to the grip, the total
length being 685 mm. (27 in.) in one specimen and 59 cm. (23^ in.) in the other. The
grip is beaded. When used ceremonially the head-end was adorned with two white
feathers which were split and the two halves bent round to form a circle (pi. XVII. fig. 1,
pi. XXVIII. fig. 1). One specimen was owned by Dau (Ulag, 12), the other by Marau
(Areb, 15 B). There is a third specimen of which we have no definite particulars, it is
shown in pi. XXVIII. fig. 1 ; and we were told there were five saurisauri in all. It was
impossible to persuade the natives to part with them.
According to Mr Ray the two disc-shaped stone-headed clubs of Malu were called
" Waduli" and "Tamera" (the ordinary name for such clubs is gdbagaba), they were carried
by Zagareb le.
Bull-roarers were not employed in this nor in any of the hero-cult ceremonies of
Torres Straits, they appear to belong to the oldest stratum of religion • in this region.
RITUAL SONGS AND SENTENCES.
According to the tradition of the Murray Islanders, the songs used in the Malu
ceremonies were introduced by the Sigarem le and the Nagirem le (p. 42), who could
not speak the Miriam tongue. With one or two exceptions, however, the words clearly
belong to the language of the eastern islands, and could never therefore have had their
origin from Nagir or from other islands to the west. These songs thus present a striking
contrast to the keber songs (p. 150), which are invariably in the western language.
1 This specimen was made by Warm ; the gauntlet is 30 cm. long and the rod extends a further 53 cm.
Stays which support the rod divide the surface of the gauntlet into areas which are painted red, black, and
white; the rod and most of the stays are coloured red, the small oblique stays next to the rod are black.
THE CULT OF BOMAI AND MALU. 297
Mr Ray finds many obsolete words and forms of grammar in the words of the Malu
songs : he has dealt with this subject at length in Vol. in. p. 51. The original significance
of the Malu songs is for the most part forgotten by the Miriam of the present day. They
describe some of the words as " Malu words," and attempt to translate them into the
vernacular. But even when the meaning of individual words is remembered, their sense
in the context is generally quite unknown (cf. p. 128). Mr Ray has been able to suggest
a translation of some of the difficult passages, and since we left the island Mr Bruce has
endeavoured to obtain further information as to their meaning. But the interpretation
of the words is still little more than a series of guesses.
Many of the songs unquestionably refer to the exploits and adventures of Bomai,
Malu and their kin.
There was extreme difficulty in reducing these traditional songs to writing and in
obtaining the meaning of the words. They appear to be disconnected phrases which suggest
rather than describe events connected with the legendary history of Bomai and Malu.
Even Mr Bruce says, "I can make no headway with the Bomai songs, no doubt
the natives understand them to a certain extent ; if they do not, they look as if
they did."
It is very probable that the songs are mainly mnemonic, and that during the initiation
period not only were the words and music taught to the initiates but the explanation was
imparted, though this we were unable to obtain.
A. SUNG. DURING THE EXHIBITION OF THE SACRED MASKS '.
i. Sung by the Zagareb le standing. Air I. p. 151.
Wau- oka Maluet au adud leluti3 adud tereget i e a
Yea why Malu very bad man bad teeth
Warbir* naukarikiluti5 i a Warbir dereble i i segura
Warbir haul me out Werbir dug out play
tugleis Bub! bub! bub .'...he! he!
stand round
ii. Sung by the Zagareb le sitting. Air I.
Wau baurem kazi7 wapa baurem tabametalam* baurem
Yea to fish spear child harpoon
baurem tabametalam baurem
1 One informant said this song was first taught to the novitiates at Gazir and sung afterwards at Las when
women were present, though perhaps they could not catch the words.
2 This spelling has been adopted in the songs, as the word seemed to us to be pronounced in this way; in
the Vocabulary it is spelled wao. 3 The restrictive of le. Cf. Vol. in. p. 60.
4 Warbir or Warber is a water-hole at Las (pp. 7, 283), more probably the island Waraber is intended.
5 Mr Ray (Vol. in. p. 50) says this is the Malu word for naukarik, take me up; but it may be naukarik leluti.
6 What follows is added from Mr Ray's version.
7 Mr Ray spells it kali, it is the "Malu word" (Vol. in. p. 51) for the western kazi, a child or person, said
in this instance to be a baby.
8 This was translated "all women are ready to carry." Mr Kay suggests that the word should be written
tabao metalam, go out from house.
H. Vol. VI. 38
298 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
iii. Uttered rapidly and without any break between the drum beats,
when the masked zogo le were approaching.
(a) Malu wasar1 ged pitge noumoieda (Inamarida)
Malu a small canoe at a point of land send away
(6) Bomai terpa kiaur-kiaur" terpa
Bomai rock oyster of lime rock oyster
(c) Bomai wabi lidge dasmerawem (variant: dasmera.re)
Bomai you at the bones let him see (he) saw (you) many
Bomai kosker3 lidge dasmeratvem
Bomai neur* lidge dasmerawem
Malu terpa kiaur-kiaur terpa
Malu wabi lidge dasmerawem
Malu kosker lidge dasmerawem
Malu neur lidge dasmerawem
(d) Ged areg-areg, kaur areg-areg, pur areg-areg
Land eating island eating open spot5 eating
(e) Kaur abemed-abemed e, ged abemed-abemed
Island land
(/) Ged argem okabatager (variant: dosaker)
Land for eating mourn grieve
(g) Gedem Kaurem eker
For land, for island ? make or left
(h) Pinar asak-asak, tol akes-akes, wap akes-akes
? The Erythrina tree cutting ? a tree ? pricking harpoon pricking
Bomai lug arit-arit, Malu lug arit-arit
Bomai things burns up Malu things burns up
(i) Irkes beizar, seb beizar Bomai irkes beizar seb
Trench stone fence, earth stone fence Bomai trench stone fence earth
beizar ivali arit-arit, lug arit-arit
stone fence cloth burns up things burns up
B. SUNG DURING THE DANCE OF THE BEIZAM BOAI. Air i. p. 151.
i. Wau oka Maluet uzer tararemeti Wabir naukarik leluti7
Yea why Malu paddle sticks fast again Wabir haul me out men
ii. Wau degem kerem o kerem derapeida e a isemadariei"
Yea bird-of-paradise head head is cut off two roll it up in a mat*
1 Perhaps this is the canoe referred to on p. 38.
2 Mr Kay reads kaur-kaur, islands. 3 Women. 4 Girls.
6 Or a large garden belonging to several men.
6 Mr Ray suggests that this is the adjective from arbumeda, pluck up.
7 In Mr Ray's version this is continued with "Warbir direbli," Waraber dig up.
8 One informant said that this was a foreign word, another said it was the " Malu word " for itarati, roll
or fold up; in Vol. m. p. 51 it is translated "two put in a mat and roll up."
THE CULT OF BOMAI AND MALU. 299
iii. Wau galbol iaba taiawa imadari Seii1 padgege* ni kedgerge*
Yea whales they spout here (? at) Seii in the valley fresh water
iv. Wau weduli* gereb" kesge otaili" Seii1 padgege* ni
Yea club in the channel Seii in the valley fresh water
kedgerge3
These songs are each followed by the following words spoken in a whisper 7.
v. Malu kopa 8 isauado 9 naukarik leluti isaua dararager 10
Malu buttocks smear haul me out men smeared stick on
C. FUNERAL SONGS.
i. Sung to Air i. p. 151.
Wau aka11 o adet™ Maluet e padet13 a-au emarer1' emarer etc.
Yea why holy Malu at the creek sways sways etc.
ii. Sung to Air II. p. 151.
Wau o weluba™ o lewerlewer™ a o meriba tamera" o
Yea pigeon's feather food our Malu's club
gulabora tamera a o weii weii etc.
of dry banana leaves Malu's club alas alas
iii. Sung to Air in. p. 151.
(a) U Wau Izibls eream o Izib a eream a o u wau
Yea Izib drink ye two ! Izib drink ye two ! yea
Izib e e dirker egwatur™
Izib he sinks it pulls him down
1 Seii is the name of the channel in the reefs between Mer and Erub; but Seii was the "brother" of
Bomai (p. 37).
2 Pade is "shout"; pat is a valley in which a stream flows more or less constantly.
3 Probably gedge ge, in the place there.
* Weduli, or Waduli, is the proper name of Malu's disc-shaped club, carried by the Zagareb le (p. 296).
5 Perhaps derived from ereb, digging, derebli. 6 ?oaturi, begin to stumble.
7 One of us has the following note: The old men whisper the sacred words "Take up Malu from the sacred
ground; put wax on the drums. All these songs of Bomai we teach you, we give to you the sacred songs."
8 The "Malu word" for the Miriam kip, the buttocks; kop is a sacred ground or tabooed spot.
9 Isaua, sauado a " Malu word" for the Miriam esaua, smear (Vol. in. p. 51), probably derived from i«a«, wax.
10 Dararager a "Malu word" for sticking two things together, like sticking pellets of wax on the tympanum
of a drum ; thus his legs were smeared with mud in the swamp.
11 Mr Bruce thinks this word is here employed in a reproachful manner: "Why did you do so?" but it
may be spoken to one for whom regard is held.
12 For the use of the suffix -e.t, see Mr Kay, Vol. in. pp. 50, 60; Mr Bruce says this suffix has an endearing
or playful significance analogous to "wifey" for "wife."
13 Pad or pat, a creek, watercourse or valley, such as Izib, to which this refers.
14 Mr Bruce thinks this means "he is glad." The Bomai le sing these songs with clasped hands and sway
their bodies to the rhythm of the music. The music and the swaying appear both to be expressed by e emali,
he sways, wi emarari, they sway.
15 Of the Torres Straits pigeon.
111 An informant said this referred to the food provided for the feather-clad (hence welubd) zogo le (p. 293).
17 Tamer is the proper name of one of Malu's disc-shaped stone-headed clubs (p. 296).
18 Izib is the stream or creek that flows through Kiam (p. 283). It is still said that anyone drinking the
water in this creek will "swell up" and become ill. The two who drink are probably Bomai and Malu.
111 In the songs this word appeared to us to be pronounced eu-atur.
38—2
300 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
(6) Wau Goi1 wakoi* Goi ko eidarariei Goi baugem3
Yea Goi mat Goi again they two lift him out Goi turtle-shell
Wau kegar1 baugem e na baugem
Yea stone turtle-shell he there turtle-shell
(c)8 Wau berderge e dirker egwatur. Wau Izib
Yea in the swamp he sinks it pulls (him) down. Yea (at) Izib
eream e dirker egwatur
drink ye two ! he sinks it pulls (him) down
(d) Wau ebereber deaber6 uma7 emarer
Yea swelling he swells we sways
(e) Wau ga irim erier ga irim erier. Wau Seii* erier Seii
Yea and swallow drank and swallow drank. Yea Seii drank Seii
(f) Wau Kolka9 pasir™ Wau ses oka pasir Wau uma7 emarer
Yea Kolka pas Yea twig why pas Yea we sways
(Other funeral songs are given on pp. 152, 153, but of these we cannot make an
adequate translation.)
At the close of all these funeral songs, the following words, zogo mer, are sung in
a low tone (Air iv. p. 152) :
(g) Iba abara lewer, kerem abara lewer si ! si ! si !
Jaw his food, head his food
and then these words are whispered:
(A)11 Main okasisi okasoksok, bamsilare tabamsilare
Malu sorry sorry many are troubled many are troubled again
batapilare tabatapilare bausakilare
many grumble many grumble again many cut themselves (p. 154)
tabausakilare
many cut themselves again
1 A water-hole at Las (pp. 7, 283) is called Goi, but probably reference is here made to a western island
(footnote 1, p. 302).
2 The " Malu word " for kuri, a small soft mat said to come from Masig or Aurid, it is the western word maku.
3 The "Malu word" for kaisu. The word was also given to Mr Ray as bau-gimia, which is a western phrase
meaning "on a spear" or "along a spear."
4 There is a kegar stone at Deiau in Mer.
5 Mr Ray combines this with (a) thus : Wau Izib eream o Iziba Wau berder eream berderge e dirker egwatur,
as one of us also obtained it. It was sung in the bush, not on the beach. Mr Bruce sent us this version :
Uao, berderge eream, ederkir [e dirker] e gotara [egwatur]. Yes, in the mud (you) drink from, dive he pulls you
out (or drags out). Uao, Isibge eream, ederkar [e dirker] e gotara [egwattir]. Yes, you drink from Izib, (you)
dive he pulls (you) out.
6 deib, elephantiasis, eleri, swell up. It almost looks as if Bomai became infected at Izib with the filaria
that gives rise to elephantiasis.
7 The "Malu word" for meriba, we (inclusive plural).
8 Footnote 1, p. 299, probably in both instances it is the hero that is referred to.
9 A "brother" of Bomai" (p. 37).
10 The "Malu word" for pas, a general name for scented plants, thyme or scented grass.
11 Very great difficulty was experienced in getting a translation of these phrases, Mr Ray and each of us
obtaining different versions. Mr Ray's version reads: Malu okasisi, forgets; bausakare (cut up many things, or
destroy, or many crouch down) ; tabausakare, cut up or destroy many things of another kind, or many others
crouch ; bamesilare, delay many, or many wait ; tabamesilare, delay many of another sort, or many of another
THE CULT OF BOMAI AND MALU. 301
D. THE ASASEM WED SUNG AT THE DEATH OF A BEIZAM BOAI. p. 130.
i. Biari1 wegatua* Malita3 ardar-neba* Malu Sigari
(At) Biari crawled on the sand Malu anointed Malu Sigar
kauara ' 6
give
ii. Budge Agud Gazirem Damem Kiamem kemem7 e kem-ataratele*3
In mourning Agud to Gazir to Dam to Kiam with belly filled
kind wait. Another version obtained by Mr Bay is : Kase, exceedingly ; okasokeok, forget ; bamesilare, delay
many; tabamesilare, delay many (of a different kind); bautapelare, strike many; tabatttapelare, strike many (of
another sort) ; lausakelare (destroy many, or many crouch down) ; tabausakelare, destroy many (of another kind),
or many others crouch down. Arei, the mamoose, would not admit "bautapelare, tabautapelare." By .their form
all these verbs are either reciprocal or intransitive.
The following meanings were also given :
okasisi, okasoksok, ye remember, ye forget (c. s. M. and A. c. H.) ; bamsilare, etc., ye make fast, ye loosen
(A. c. H.); batapilare, etc., ye cannot do, ye cannot undo (c. s. M.), ye cannot either go up, ye cannot come back
(A. c. H.); bausakilare, etc., ye depict or mark well, ye scratch out; bamsilare, many are troubled; batapilare,
many are deaf; bausakilure, many are silent. On the whole we are inclined to take the versions in the text,
which are due to Mr Kay, as they are consistent, all being signs of mourning. Bamiilare is voo., bamesirida,
recip. and refl., damesili; batapilare, complain to one another or scold, voc. bataparet; bausakilare, voc.,
esakeida, cut.
It seems that the Miriam, in explaining them to us, attached opposite meanings to the members of each of
these four pairs of words, although philologically this interpretation appears untenable. This opposition is
implied by the prefix ta-, thus: bakeam, go; tabakeam, come; ais, take; tais, bring; cf. Vol. in. p. 65, last
paragraph.
1 Biari is a small island near Waraber, probably it is that known as Burar in the western language.
2 To keep moving on the sand like a turtle.
" Mtilita = Malu-ita, ita being derived from id, coco-nut oil. On. p. 35 it was stated that Main's body was
anointed with charcoal and id, while his three brothers were allowed only to use charcoal.
4 ardar-neba may mean "seen" or "found in a hole"; parda-neba is a variant, perhaps this is par-anl<i-neba;
par, a stone anchor; neb, a hole; but syntax requires neb ardar, instead of ardar neb. Mr Bruce says: "Ad or
par, the stone anchor or the pole they used for anchoring canoes ; neb, the hole in the reef suitable for anchorage,
or the hole made in the sand by inserting the pole " ; he regards ardar-neba as " found a p,oo<l anchorage."
5 Mr Bruce translates this as "gave to" or " give " = iiicar ; but kaur is "island," and kaura may mean "of
the islands," but in this case it should have a noun after it, but it might be kaur a a.
'• Mr Bruce translates this song thus: "Malu anchored his canoe at Biari, his body was covered with oil,
Malu crawled along the sand and gave to Sigar."..." It is thought what Malu gave to Sigar was orders that he
and his other two brothers, Seo and Kulka, were to sit on their kind of mat, whilst he (Malu) had a special mat
for himself" (footnote 4, p. 35; p. 294).
7 kern, with; the em and e seem to be added as a device to separate two somewhat harsh-sounding words.
Mr Bay says kern is probably the noun "company," kern-em, for or with company.
8 Mr Bruce says this is " filled, as with food." In Vol. HI. p. 147, kem-osmeda is given as " be filled with food"
(lit. belly go out); on p. 175 etatkoi is translated "fill," and iterati, or itarati, which looks something like
ata.rate.le is translated "fold." Mr Bay suggests, "body folded (covered) [with mat]."
9 Mr Bruce freely translates this song thus : " Agud (Bomai) is mourning at Gazir, Dam, and Kiam with
his belly filled with food." He says this asasem, or lament, was sung in the evening after sunset and continued
until near daybreak and was sung only at the death of Beizam le belonging to Piaderem, Samsep, Mergarem,
or Komet; the body was covered all over with the fine feathers of the daumer (Torres Straits pigeon), and
round the brow was a cassowary feather head-dress (p. 145).
302 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
iii. Warbirge1 terowaia* terimwaia3 adakerwaia* Qoige1 waie
At Warbir to drink swallowing stealing women at Goi
terowaia terimwaia adakei~waia (repeated ad lib.)
to drink swallowing stealing women
SYNOPSIS.
The following synopsis is suggested as a plausible summary of most of the incidents
referred to in the foregoing songs and utterances. In all cases where Malu is mentioned,
it is probable that it is Bomai who is referred to (p. 281).
Certain incidents appear to have occurred in the central islands of Torres Straits
before Bomai reached the Murray Islands:
Malu crawled on the sand at Biari, a small island near Waraber (probably Burar),
his body, unlike that of his companions, being covered with oil (p. 35). Sigar is here
alluded to (D. i.), Kulka is mentioned (C. iii./; p. 37), and doubtfully Seii (B. iii., iv.).
Reference appears to be made to Bomai's misconduct with women (D. iii.) at Goi,
most likely the island of Guijar, near Waraber; this island is not mentioned in the
legends, but probably the latter are very imperfect. In the same island two persons
lifted him on a mat (C. iii. b). When Sigai and Maiau went to Yam the men brought
some old mats, and " Sigai and Maiau went on to the mats, and the men lifted the mats
and went, went, went" (Vol. v. pp. 65, 66); mats also play a conspicuous part in the
Miriam legend (p. 35).
At Waraber Malu seems to have fallen into the sea (A. i.). It looks as if his
paddle stuck fast (B. i.) and possibly caused him to capsize out of his canoe. The " bub,
bub, bub " (A. i.) may refer to the sound caused by his sinking, and D. iii. to his swallowing
some water. He was hauled out by his friends (A. i. ; B. i.).
Malu sends away his small canoe at the island point (A. iii. a). This may refer
to the breaking of his canoe owing to bad weather (p. 36). He then transformed himself
into a whale (B. iii.), and eventually arrived at the Murray Islands. The stone fences
which Bomai destroyed (A. iii. i) are probably those referred to on pp. 37, 38.
After his arrival in Mer, Malu 5 (or probably Bomai) visited the swamp at Izib
(C. i. ; C. iii. a), into which he fell and was sucked under (C. iii. c). He was extricated
by some men, and his buttocks were smeared with mud (likened to the pellets of wax
1 Reference has already been made to these two places which are mentioned in songs A. i., C. iii. b. The
two water-holes of that name at Las (p. 7) are denied by the natives to have anything to do with the Bomai-
Malu cult. Warbir or Waraber is the name of an island lying to the west of Mer, and Goi is a small sand-bank
near Waraber which the people of the latter island frequent for fishing and turtliug, probably it is the western
Guijar. The heroes of the Bomai cult visited several of the central islands of Torres Straits (p. 37 ; Vol. v.
pp. 64, 375); these songs suggest that islands were visited other than those mentioned in the legends.
2 eri, drink.
3 irmi, swallow; Mr Bruce translates this "water descending to (stomach)" and "to drink and wash your
food down."
4 Mr Bruce translates this " hunting for women and girls." Mr Ray suggests this is the Mabuiag adaka-waia,
send away; he does not know of waia as a Miriam termination (ero = eat, <?ri = drink, «-uam = steal woman).
5 The syntax of C. iii. a refers to two persons drinking, we cannot explain this.
THE CULT OF BOMAI AND MALU. 303
affixed to the tympanum of a drum) (B. v.). Perhaps it was on account of his body
becoming inflated (C. iii. d) that the Miriam have put a taboo on drinking this water,
and this taboo would be more efficacious through its association with the " holy Malu " ;
this incident does not occur in the legend. The "swaying" mentioned in C. i. and
C. iii. d probably refers, not to Main's fall, but to the swaying of the singers ; Mr Bruce
says, " when the Malu songs are sung one man, who is standing up, gives the time by
clasping both hands together, which he swings to the rhythm of the song, and he and
all the singers keep time with arms and bodies swaying while singing; this is also
termed waemarem " [keep on swaying (imperative)].
It seems to be suggested that the Agud (Bomai) mourns at Gazir, Dam and Kiam
on the occasion of the death of a Beizam boai, after having partaken of the funeral feast
(D. ii.).
References are made to the two disc-shap?d, stone-headed clubs of Malu, Waduli and
Tamera (B. iv. ; C. ii. ; p. 296), to his fish-spear (A. ii.) and paddle (B. i.).
Malu is described as a " very bad man " (A. i.) ; the only explanation of this is his
interfering with women (D. iii.), but that seems to have been a venial offence in Torres
Straits, or perhaps the repeated statement (A. iii. d, e,f) of his "eating" land and islands
may refer to him as a warrior who desolated and despoiled the places to which he came,
but of this there is no direct evidence. Confirmatory of this view is the information
that he ate bones (A. iii. c) and human heads (C. iii. g) ; we think this does not necessarily
mean that he was a cannibal in the usual acceptance of the term (cf. Vol. v. pp. 301, 302),
but it may refer to his having been a head-hunter like Kwoiam (Vol. v. pp. 71 — 75).
It will be remembered that the Bomai mask (p. 289) had a beard of human lower jaw-
bones, and the Aurid mask, which probably represented Kulka, was decorated with human
skulls (Vol. v. p. 378, pi. XX. fig. 1). The teeth mentioned in A. i. may refer to these
jaw-bones and not to his own teeth. It was probably his murderous behaviour which
led to his being called a " very bad man " and caused many to grumble and mourn
(C. iii. /*).
THE CEREMONY AT DAM.
Slightly beyond the northerly end of the village of Las is the small spot known
as Dam, where, about 23 metres (25 yds.) from the sand-beach, is situated the au kbp
or sacred ground which contains numerous stones and shells associated with the cult of
Bomai and Malu.
The shrine (pi. XIX. fig. 3), which is called "Bomai" or "Malu," is an irregular
oblong area about 3 m. (10 feet) long and 1 m. (3 feet) wide, the long axis of which
runs about N.W. by S.E. This is crowded with between forty and fifty giant Fusus
(Megalatractus aruanus) shells of all sizes, which are arranged roughly in a north and
south direction. Near the centre are two large Murex shells and a spider shell (Pteroceras),
in the south-eastern corner are two baler shells (Melo). There are also one rounded block
of coral (Astrsea) and five blocks of stone, one of which is red and another a white foreign
granitic rock, one is a piece of local volcanic ash and the remaining two appear to be
of the local lava.
304
ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
Extending south-west of the shell-shrine is a group of stones (fig. 69) that represent
certain islands. The area covered is about 6 m. (20 ft.) by 8 m. (26 ft.)1. All the stones
appear to be of local black lava except " Garboi " which seems to be a foreign stone, and
"Arper" which is a large piece of brainstone coral.
PARE MAR
O
ARPER
O
YAM
AURID GARBOI
O O
SARIB
LEO
MASIG
Au KlAN
KEBE KIAN
QBURAR
QWARABER
QGoi
FIG. 69. Ground plan of the shrine at Dam.
There was a surprising difficulty in discovering what islands these stones severally
represented. Subsequently to our investigations Mr Bruce paid several visits to this spot,
and has also spent much time in endeavouring to clear up doubtful points as to the
nomenclature and position of the several stones. In the accompanying diagram (fig. 69)
we have combined our results with his and adopted the nomenclature which Gadodo (14),
1 The following are the approximate distances of the stones from their neighbours : shrine to Sarib 46 cm.,
S. to Garboi 162 cm., G. to Aurid 106 cm., A. to Paremar 79 cm., Garboi to Masig 79 cm., M. to Waraber 2-4 m.,
W. to Goi 4-5 m.
THE CULT OP BOMAI AND MALU. 305
Enoka (18), Wanu (15 A), Pasi (27), Mamai (16) and Harry (2) finally agreed upon ».
In the following enumeration we add in brackets the alternative names that were given
to us on three separate occasions : Sarib (Paremar, Goi, Goi), Garboi ( Arper, Waraber, Sasi),
Aurid (Utui, Burar, Biari), Paremar (Waraber, Paremar, Arper), Zeg (Goi, Arper, Paremar),
Arper (Bora, Utui, Aurid), Yam (Aurid, Aurid, Sirib), Leok (Mermer), Masig (Sirib, Sirib,
Au Kian), Au Kian (Zugared). Unfortunately the relative positions of these stones do
not agree with the geographical positions of the islands which they represent. Two stones
in the shrine represent Las and Piard, which are localities on Mer.
The pelak, or sacred house, was situated about 16 — 18 m. (18 — 20 yds.) to the
north-west of the shrine.
When the ceremony was in operation a gelar was put upon the sand-beach at Dam,
along which no uninitiated person was allowed to walk.
The officiators were: (1) the three ' zogo le whose faces were covered with white
feathers of the Torres Straits pigeon ; they did not wear petticoats, but they had a
zogo kadik on the left arm and carried five wands ; (2) four kekem le ; (3) numerous
other men, and (4) the kesi.
The kekem le, or " Front men," took roots of lemon grass (sarik, Andropogon nardus)
and dried them Qver a fire ; these were then pounded and mixed with oil in two baler
shells (ezer, Melo). Two of the kekem le took the shells and held them before the other
two, and dipping their right index finger in the mixture they anointed them between
the first and second toes2, on the knee and shoulder on the right side, subsequently all
the other men were similarly anointed.
When this was finished each of the kekem le took a large Fusus shell, maber, in
each hand, and two stood side by side with outstretched arms and one leg held off the
ground in a flexed position ; the other two kekem le also held out their shells but they
crouched behind the former. The remaining men formed up in lines crouching behind
the kekem le, but they did not hold anything in their hands. This double row of men
was formed on the south-eastern side of the kbp between the main group of stones and
the stone representing Goi.
To the north-west of the main group of stones the three zogo le stood close together,
and the kesi clung round them in their fright and caught hold of their hands. There
was neither singing nor drum beating.
As soon as the ceremony was over all went and bathed in the sea ; on their return to
the kbp, the kesi were rubbed with coco-nut oil and painted with a red A-shaped mark on
the face and a daumer lub was fixed in the hair. The kesi were shown the stones, they
were taught their names, and it was explained to them that the stones were placed there
by "Malu." This information was obtained from Baton (Areb, 15), Gadodo and Pasi.
There was no suggestion that anything further took place at Dam except the appearance
of Magur (p. 311). Evidently this was a sort of preparatory initiation ceremony in which
the kesi were instructed in the wanderings and arrival of Bomai.
1 The later information accounts for the discrepancy between this account and that published by A. Schuck
in his Stabkarten der JIarshall-Insulaner.
2 The Torres Straits Islanders appear to have attached some importance to the space between the great toe
and the second toe, cf. pp. 32, 238 and Vol. v. p. 61.
H. Vol. VI. 39
306 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
THE CEREMONIES AT GAZIR AND KIAM'.
The ceremony at Gazir began with the entry of the Beizam boai and Zagareb le
into the sacred cleared area, au kbp. The latter carried the two large ceremonial drums,
"Nemau" and "Wasikor" (p. 296), and the star-shaped stone-headed Malu clubs (p. 296,
and pi. XVII. fig. 1); standing in the midst of the Beizam boai they began to recite
a song describing the character and adventures of Malu (A. i., p. 297). The Beizam boai
did not sing.
At length the song was ended and the Beizam boai and Zagareb le sat cross-legged
on the ground, the former surrounding the latter in a horse-shoe-shaped group, which
was open towards the sacred hut, pelak. The two Zagareb le who beat the drums took
up the most distant position from the pelak, and the stone-headed clubs were placed
about midway on the inside of the arms of the horse-shoe. The initiates, kesi, sat with
the Beizam boai or Zagareb le, according to the group to which their fathers belonged.
The Omai le, Daumer le and Geregere le sat with the Beizam boai or Zagareb le according
as they belonged to either group.
After another song had been sung (A. ii., p. 297) an impressive silence followed, broken
only by the slow and rhythmic booming of the sacred drums. From time to time between
the beats, the Zagareb le quickly uttered beneath their breath some zogo mer concerning
Bomai and Malu (A. iii., p. 298).
Under these solemn conditions, two files of keparem le" appeared from the bush
behind the pelak and approached the open end of the horse-shoe-shaped group. Each
bore in his hand a long black staff, which he held obliquely. Corresponding men in
the two files faced one another. They advanced by side steps with limbs and body slightly
bent, keeping their faces turned towards the group. After every three steps the keparem le
halted and crouched slowly down with legs wide apart, leaning heavily with both hands
upon their staves, which were inclined obliquely to the ground. In this position they
turned their heads from side to side, now away from, now towards the pelak, as if they were
expecting someone to appear therefrom. . Thus alternately advancing and halting, at length
the foremost pair reached the nearest of the Beizam boai and Zagareb le beside whom
they crouched3, and the remainder aligned themselves, turning their heads towards the
pelak. Meanwhile the measured drum beats, and the hurried muttering of the verses
concerning Bomai and Malu continued.
And now the drums were beaten more rapidly, as from the pelak emerged the three
zogo le (pi. XXX.), wearing the sacred masks of Bomai and Malu. The first wore the
1 This description is based for the most part upon the actual ceremony revived for and witnessed by us at
Gazir and Kiam. On the latter occasion a cinematograph film was taken of the movements of the zogo le,
from which the figures on pi. XXIX. have been enlarged and touched up ; strictly speaking, the Main mask
should not have been worn, as it never came to Kiam. We have, further, various descriptions of this ceremony
given by natives in 1889 and 1898.
2 The tami le when performing the Bomai-Malu ceremonies were known by their secret name of keparem le.
3 In pi. XXX. the keparem le are represented as standing up — perhaps it would have been more accurate if
they had been represented as crouching.
THE CULT OF BOMAI AND MALU. 307
Bomai mask : ; his elbows were flexed, his palms turned downwards and his upper arms
held against the sides of the body 2 ; his legs were kept slightly flexed. The second zogo le,
es le, guided the advancing Bomai mask by means of a rope held in his right hand ; his
arms were bent at a right angle, and he walked in a zig-zag direction. The third zogo
le wore the Main mask, steadying it with his left hand3, and walking with his left side
advanced to the front.
Thus the three zogo le slowly made their way between the two ranks of the keparem le.
Their step consisted in suddenly raising high the foot before it was brought down on the
ground ; it remained long on the ground before the other foot was next similarly raised.
Now and again, the zogo le halted and made a crouching movement — "all same shark."
Or they beat time for one or two seconds with great rapidity and then, standing on one
leg, slowly raised and lowered the other foot two or three times. At length the zogo le
had passed between the ranks of the keparem le and prepared to return as they came,
by pivoting round counter-clockwise on the left foot, while the right was hit out as if
to kick or thrust away someone (pi. XXIX. fig. 3), the drums being beaten rapidly.
After the zogo le had re-entered the pelak the Zagareb le began to sing again. The
zogo le appeared a second and a third time to the kesi, who had by this time heard all
the sacred songs and had become familiar with the sacred masks of the Bomai-Malu
mysteries.
Finally the zogo le received a large present of food from the kesi, which was heaped
up near the pelak. But only the zogo le might eat within it, the rest ate together outside 4.
The Zagareb le were not allowed even to enter the pelak, nor did they receive an offering
of food from the kesi, their food and that of the Beizam boai being provided by the Tebud
(p. 287).
In the ceremonies at Gazir and Kiam, all the food was presented to the zogo le on
coco-nut leaves by the keparem le, and all had to sit on similar leaves. This was
kept a profound secret from the women and all outsiders ; if any one of these professed
to know upon what Bomai sat, that person was visited with severe penalties, which
ranged from death to having their house burned down (footnote 4, p. 35, and p. 294).
The Ceremony at Kiam.
It appears that the Bomai ceremony took place at Kiam once every three years.
At the beginning of the south-east season, when the turn came round, the Bomai mask
was transferred from Gazir to Kiam. It was worn with all the circumstance of full ritual
by the appropriate zogo le, who was supported by the es le; the two zogo le walked all
the distance with the gait and gestures that were employed in the actual ceremony. They
1 Mr Bay was informed that "Olai" was the zogo net (sacred name) of this mask, even the name Bomai
was withheld from the uninitiated.
2 The photographs on pi. XXIX. do not quite represent this attitude. We believe the description to be
correct, the discrepancy was probably dne to the lack of practice of the performers.
* Perhaps this would not have been necessary when the original mask was worn, probably he also held his
arms in the same position as that of the first zogo le.
4 According to another account, the zogo le ate their food near, not within, the pelak, sitting apart from
the rest, all of whom ate theirs together.
39—2
308 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
were surrounded by a number of men carrying coco-nut palm leaves, which formed a screen
impervious to the gaze of any non-initiate. The mask remained at Kiam during that
season and before the beginning of the north-west monsoon was returned to Dam.
The initiation ceremony was conducted precisely as at Gazir, except that the Malu
mask was not employed; this, as we have seen, remained permanently at Gazir. The
last zogo le who carried the mask across the island and performed the ceremony at Gazir
was Arus (Warwe, 16), and Koit (Las, 14 A) was his es le. The third zogo le, Eski (Las, 14),
acted on this occasion as a keparem le.
Apparently the pelak in which the Bomai mask was enshrined was demolished when
the mask was removed and a new one erected for its return. It was made by all the
Korog men and had to be finished in one day; the exact spot where it was built was
called Mamgiz.
THE CEREMONY AT LAS.
On the day after the exhibition of the sacred masks to the initiates, a remarkable
series of dances was performed upon the sea-shore near the village of Las (pi. XXIII.
fig. 2). Women and children were allowed to witness it from beside the bamboo fence
which separates the village from the sand-beach. Each group contributed its own dance,
and these several dances of which the series was composed were again and again repeated
in order, as the dancers, approaching from the south along the sand-beach, drew near
to Las. The initiates took up a prominent position among the spectators outside the
village fence.
In the distance, towards the north, the dances were watched by the three zogo le,
whose bodies and faces were covered with white feathers. At the beginning of the
dances they took up their position south of Las ; by the end of the dances they had
moved north of the village. The women could see the zogo le but they did not know
who played their parts. The old women were engaged in heaping up food before the
zogo le. After the dances were over, a great feast was held.
Four Omai le, or Dog men, performed the first dance, coming into view at the stony
point of Gazir1. With bodies bent they ran towards Las, one pair behind the other ;
their arms swung to and fro and their hands threw up sand behind them at every
step (pi. XXV. fig. 1). First they formed into two rows facing one another on their
hands and knees ; they advanced until their heads nearly touched and retired three
times (pi. XXV. fig. 3). Next they lay nearly prostrate and threw their arms at full
length on the sand, now a little to one side now to the other (pi. XXV. fig. 4). Then
the last man on the left side skipped over the backs of the two men in front of him
and crossing the space between the two rows of dancers skipped over the man of hjs
own side ; he resumed his position, and then the same action was performed by the other
men. They repeated all the foregoing movements a second time in the same manner
save that the last man on the right side was the first to leap over the others. Finally
they retired to one side, where they remained motionless on their hands and knees.
1 The description of the following dances is for the most part derived from the actual performances witnessed
by us ; one of us saw it in 1889, the details were similar on both occasions. We were told that the number of
Omai le might be six instead of four.
THE CULT OP BOMAI AND MALU. 309
Next came the Daumer le, or Pigeon men, six advancing in double file (pi. XXV.
fig. 2); their elbows were flexed, their forearms and hands were held vertically. With
their bodies and knees well bent, they lifted high their legs and, as if uncertain of
their step, they dwelt long upon each foot as it rested tip-toe on the ground. The
men of each pair then approached and whispered to one another something which was
called itmer, "pigeon-talk" (lit. asking questions). This they repeated several times,
sometimes standing but more generally in a crouching position as in pi. XXVI. fig. 1.
Then they wheeled round at right angles clockwise, so as to face the sea ; where-
upon they took three or four small rapid steps, almost " beating time," and leaped into
the air, striking their breasts with the palms of their hands in imitation of the flapping
of pigeons' wings, and turning to one another for a few seconds. Then they wheeled
round at right angles in the same direction, and . finally by a third wheel at right
angles faced the village of Las (pi. XXV. fig. 3). The various positions assumed by the
six Daumer le can be more clearly understood from the following diagram, the arrow
indicates the direction in which they are all facing.
(Las)
(Sea)
After the repetition of this dance, the Daumer le retired behind the Omai le.
Their place was now taken by the Geregere le (p. 287), who advanced in a crouching
position with their knees and hips strongly bent. Each of them carried in his left
hand five arrows held horizontally. Having advanced a few steps, the Geregere le stood
erect and raised their arrows as high as possible, still keeping them horizontal, and
brought them now across the front of the body. Then they struck the arrows with
the palm of the right hand, making a rattling noise. At the same time they leaped
three times from the ground. Then they slowly lowered the hand bearing the arrows,
rattling them incessantly. Lastly they resumed the crouching position and advanced
as before, once more to go through the same movements. Then they retired to one
side to make room for the last group of dancers.
(We understand that in the complete ceremony, the Wazwaz le would dance next.
We do not know their movements.)
These were the Zagareb le and Beizam boai, who approached together. The Zagareb
le formed into a central group and sang the atug wed, a song describing the exploits
of Main (A. i., p. 297 ; B. i. — v., pp. 298, 299). They were surrounded by the Beizam boai
who danced around them " counter-clockwise," i.e. with their left hand towards the centre of
the group (pi. XXV. fig. 4). In the middle of the Zagareb le was a man who carried the
Malu drum (pi. XVII. fig. I)1. The Zagareb le did not dance; they merely sang and beat
the drum to the dance of the Beizam boai*. At the opening of the song the Zagareb le
1 In former times there were two drums (of. p. 296).
! In the original dances we believe that this group was composed as follows : In the centre were the two
Zagareb le who beat the Malu drums, they were surrounded by other Zagareb le. The Beizam boai formed two
circles round the nucleus of Zagareb le, an inner composed of young men carrying clubs, and an outer of old
men bearing staves, only the latter wore a zogo kadik. The circles revolved counter-clockwise round the central
group as the whole mass gradually passed along the sand-beach in the same direction as the other dancers.
310 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
crouched ; later they rose, as the Beizam boai danced around them. Two of the Beizam
boai carried in the left hand the two stone-headed Main clubs, which they passed to their
neighbours during the dance. The man who held the club gave it into the left hand of
the man behind him, who stepped forward to take the place of the former; thus
although all received the club in turn its position with regard to the group did not
alter. The Beizam boai continued dancing during the song of the Zagareb le, always
advancing the same foot forward. From time to time, they cried out " Bua ! Bua ! Bua !
He ! He ! He ! " afterwards passing the clubs from one man to another. During these
outbursts, the man who carried a club repeatedly lifted high the left leg, and held the
left arm bearing the club straight in front of the body. At the close of the song
the Zagareb le whispered certain words about Malu, which only the initiated might
hear. They then joined the Beizam boai in a general cry of "Bua! Bua! Bua!,"
one or two of the dancers throwing up handfuls of sand which fell over the heads of
the others.
Again and again the Omai le, Daumer le, Geregere le and Beizam boai repeated
their several dances, and the Zagareb le their songs, always with the same words and
to the same music, until at length the village of Las was reached.
Finally the various groups retired through the opening of the fence into the village
of Las in the order in which they first appeared on the sand-beach, the zogo le being
the last to retire.
THE INSTRUCTION OF THE KESL
After a kesi had seen the masks, he was instructed as follows: He was told he
was no longer a boy, and might no longer play about, but must do work as men do.
He must no longer spend his days catching fish on the reef as he could not do that
and have a good garden, but he might go on the reef once a week or so. He was
strictly enjoined to make a good and large garden and he was taught the best way
of gardening, as for example, " When you got ketai (a kind of yam that climbs), you
plant him along big tree, you keep him along tree for three or four years " ; how to
make sopsop bananas, and so forth. He was told to build a large house for himself
and to surround it with a fence. "You no steal food belong another man — no steal
anything." One version was " No steal him garden, banana, yam ; No steal him girl or
woman; No steal thing belong man." "You no fight woman or nobody." "You be
quiet." He was told not to talk scandal. "You no play, you stop quiet." He was not
allowed to dance, or sing, or smoke for one year (one informant said "no sing for two
years1 "), and he had to sit with bended head (esorgiru emri), and he was threatened
with death if he did not do so. He was not allowed to cut or dress his hair for
one year on pain of death. Finally he was told, " Suppose you tell another man br
a woman about Malu, I kill you dead. You no tell woman name belong Bomai, that
gumik nei."
We feel that this information can be relied upon, as after an interval of ten years
one of us was told the same injunctions as on the previous occasion in almost exactly
the same words and sequence.
1 Probably this meant that until the kesi had seen all the ceremonies he was to refrain from partaking in
secular dances, kap.
THE CULT OF BOMAI AND MALU. 311
It is highly significant that the elders realised wherein lay succeas in life, for they
laid great stress on gardening and disparaged the young man from spending much
time on fishing. It was the duty of the youth to settle down in life, with a permanent
home and to live at peace with all men.
MAGUR.
Part of the initiation ceremonies at Darn, Gazir and Kiam consisted in thoroughly /
frightening the kesi with representations of a spiritual personality known as Magur or
Ib. The kisi were taken to a retired spot on the afternoon of the day in which they
had first seen the masks, and then the men dressed up as Magur rushed in upon
them and hit them with tulik (axes), and gabagaba (stone-headed clubs). Sometimes
the lads were only bruised, but they might be so cut or injured as to leave permanent
scars ; a few old men have exhibited such scars to us. The boys usually jumped up
and tried to run away, but their fathers caught them and said to them " You no go,
you stay." We obtained at Las a curious club, tut (pi. XVII. fig. 9), made of nigir
stone (which is said to be found in Dauan) ; it is 39 cm. (15f in.) in length and weighs
nearly 3 kilos. (6£ Ibs.). It appears to be a natural stone which was perhaps selected
because it had a convenient grip, at all events the stone is a foreign one. It was
formerly used by the zogo le to hit the initiates with during the Malu ceremonies,
the tut came from the au kbp at Gazir.
The function of representing Magur was said to belong solely to the Zagareb le,
one informant went so far as to say that " Beizam boai no savvy1." The men who
personated Magur (and many might do so at a time) rubbed coco-nut oil over their
bodies and covered themselves with banana or coco-nut leaves in such a manner that
they could not be distinguished. They also took two rough shells, such as small clams
(Tridacna), and rubbed and hit them together, or they carried and shook a rattle of
gba nuts (Pangium edule), one specimen of this (fig. 70) which we obtained consists of
a twisted cane ring, 18 x 20 cm. in diameter, supported by two crossed sticks bound
round with string, there are about 85 nuts, each of which is suspended by a short string ;
most of the nuts were ruddled.
The kesi were at this time warned that they would be killed if they divulged any
of the Bomai or Malu secrets, and that Magur would kill other men too if they offended
against Malu. Magur and the old men told the kesi, "No keep word close to heart,
he go speak quick ; but in big toe, then you keep him long, when grey hair no speak."
Another way of saying that what the kesi had heard must be kept so deep down that
it would never come up not even if he lived to be an old man.
The kesi were informed that the Magur were not really ghosts but only men
dressed up. Women and non-initiates had a great dread of the Magur, and the
1 One of us however has the following memorandum. When Obra (16) was an Ib he said the following
close to the Malu zogo : Niai kerem markawem sabi kedarwer nerut nai gereger nobosor (For ever youths law —
another — day — ). Obra lived at Saugiz in the Kdmet district and was therefore a Beizam boai, and the same
informant said that Magur was performed by Zagareb, Beizam, Omai and Daumer le. We cannot explain this
discrepancy.
312 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
former and children believed them to be ghosts. The fright that the kesi received
left an impression that lasted throughout life. Magur was the kebi nei, or common
name, which was known to everybody, but Ib was the zogo nei, sacred name, or au nei,
big name.
FIG. 70. Eattle made of goa nuts used by Magur.
When a member of the Bomai-Malu fraternity died and the body had been placed
on the paier, the zogo le instructed some men to disguise themselves as Magur and
to go at night to the house where the ' women were mourning in order to frighten them
(p. 136).
It is evident that Magur was essentially the disciplinary executive of the Malu
cult. All breaches of discipline, or acts of sacrilege, or deeds that brought an individual
into disfavour with the Malu authorities were punished by Magur. Magur was also
the means for terrorising the women and thereby of keeping up the fear and mystery
of the Malu ceremonies.
FUNERAL CEREMONIES.
Most of the funeral ceremonies described in Section VIII. (pp. 126 — 162) refer to
members of the Bomai-Malu fraternity. The bodies of the older men belonging to the
Beizam boai and Zagareb le were taken to the deber uteb in the bush, but those of
the younger members were taken to the beach, as were those of the Nog le.
THE CULT OF BOMAI AND MALU. 313
The corpses of the older Beizam boai were aloue decorated all over with white
feathers, ebur plis (p. 145), and otherwise accoutred like the three zogo le at the Malu
dances (p. 308). The four songs given on pp. 151, 152 were termed zogo wed, zogo
songs. A peculiar custom, of which we can find no detailed information, occurred during
the funeral ceremonies. A number of " Malu le " (Beizam le), whose bodies were covered
over with the white feathers of the Torres Straits pigeon, lay piled one upon another,
each with his chin resting upcn his fore-arms, which were crossed in front of him.
The Omai le jumped on the top of the heap of the Beizam le. This information
was sent to us by Mr Bruce arid at the same time he sent a drawing made by Pasi
of this scene (pi. XXVII. fig. 1).
The bodies of the older Zagareb le were taken to their appropriate deber uteb
and placed on a paier ; we have no information how the corpses were decorated, except
that they were not treated as above. The relatives cried all night and at daybreak
ceased singing the asasem wed (pp. 130, 150). The four zogo wed were not sung, as this
was zogo tonar, zogo custom, for the Zagareb le were entitled only to kab wed, dance
songs. After the decay of the body, the skull was taken as usual and was wrapped
up in a ka mat (fig. 11, p. 36); this circumstance is an additional indication that the
Zagareb le were of inferior status to the Beizam boai, since Malu (Bomai) reserved
to himself the right of sitting on coco-nut leaves and relegated the ka mat to his
"brothers" (p. 35).
H. Vol. VI. 40
MYTHICAL BEINGS.
BY A. C. HADDON.
MR BRUCE, in a written communication, first called my attention to the fact that
in the legends and folk-lore the principal personages, both male and female, are rarely
married, " and when anyone is recounting," he goes on to say, " the deeds and adventures
of any of them, and you ask if they were married or who their parents were, he
looks at you and replies as if you had committed an act of desecration in asking such
a question,
' Nole e nole kosker kak e nole babu kak e tabara tonar ! '
No he without a woman he without a father he his own kind of thing.
' Certainly not ! He comes in his own manner without a mother or a father.'
" It is very amusing to hear the mamoose Harry scorning the idea of these people
being married or having parents. These great personages are as real to him as are his
own wife and children."
The following analysis is sufficiently full to demonstrate the general truth of
Mr Brace's remarks. It should however be borne in mind that in many cases it is
a matter of indifference to the story whether the heroes were married or who were
their parents ; as for example, Tagai and his crew, Pepker and Ziaino, Wakai and Kuskus,
and others.
Single, childless women. The Ti (p. 10) were ancient, but youthful-looking, virgins,
and Dopeb (p. 10) was a very big woman without husband or friend. Deiau, Ter-pipi
and Ter-seberseber (p. 5) were three unmarried young women who lived by themselves ;
Meidu (p. 13), Irado, who grew out of the ground (p. 51), Gawer (p. 26), and others
were old spinsters.
Women with children, but no husbands. Nageg (p. 15) lived alone and Geigi was
born when she defsecated on a certain occasion. Kudar, the mother of Abob and Kos
(p. 21), had no husband. The parentage of Aukem (p. 31) is unknown, she had a son
but not a husband.
Married people. Although D6g and Kabur (p. 38) were prominent people in the
important Bomai legend, and there were supernatural manifestations connected with the
coming of Bomai, yet these and Kabur's brothers are considered as ordinary historical
personages, and do not rank in the same category as the above-mentioned legendary
characters. On the other hand the widow Kiar (p. 53) with her several daughters
may be regarded as belonging to the latter class.
MYTHICAL BEINGS. 315
Unmarried men. Markep and Sarkep (p. 54) were middle-aged bachelors, and
Iruain (p. 6) appears to have lived alone in his water-hole, Iriam Moris (p. 16) also
lived by himself on Dauar.
As among the characters in the folk-tales of the Western Islanders (Vol. v. p. 377)
all grades of individuals are found from men to demigods. There are some individuals
about whom there is nothing remarkable, such as Gedori who first discovered the coco-
nut was edible (p. 52), or Markep and Sarkep (p. 54), or Wakai and Kuskus (p. 46).
There are others who can transform themselves into animals, like Mokeis (p. 54), or
the Ti maidens (p. 8) ; or to whom something supernatural happens, like Maiwer (p. 47).
Many were turned into stones like Iruam (p. 7), and Iriam Moris (p. 18), or into
gardens as the girls in the story of Meidu (p. 14), or into animals as the young men
in the same story, or as in the cases of Nageg and Geigi (p. 18); while Tagai and
his crew became stars (p. 3). None of these individuals affect the social or religious
life of the natives to any extent, they merely serve to point a moral or to explain
certain objects or events.
The culture heroes belong to a different category, Gedori (p. 52) cannot justly be
placed here as he did not introduce the coco-nut. Edible fruits and useful vegetation
were introduced into the Murray Islands from the west by Gelam (p. 25), and from
New Guinea by Sida (p. 19); but Abob and Kos (p. 25) were local heroes who built
the fish-weirs on the reefs and taught variations in speech to various Eastern Islanders,
according to some they introduced coco-nut shrines (it zogo). Fire was brought from
the western islands (p. 29), and although Aukem and Terer (pp. 31, 128) are spoken
of as if of Miriam origin they certainly were western culture heroes (Vol. v. p. 56) who
were connected with funeral ceremonies; strangely enough one informant distinctly
asserted this "story belong man," thus affirming that Terer was not regarded as a super-
natural being although he carried away the ghosts of recently deceased people.
The significance of pager (p. 133), who appears in the zero, markai keber, is not
at all obvious, he evidently has some connection with the spirit-world.
Waiet (p. 277, and Vol. v. pp. 49, 252) introduced an initiation ceremony and
numerous funeral ceremonies from the west into Waier. The great initiation ceremonies
of Bomai and Main were frankly acknowledged to have been also introduced from the
west. Bomai (or Main) is related to western heroes (Vol. v. pp. 64, 375); these culture
heroes were, apparently, on the point of being apotheosised when their cults were
destroyed by the advent of the white man.
The ad giz (p. 258) seem undoubtedly to have been ancient head-men of their
respective groups who appear to have been reverenced, though to what extent it is
very difficult to determine. Though Mr Bruce defines ad giz as " the first god, or god
of the very beginning of things," he evidently does not employ the term " god " in its
strictest sense, as he admits that their descendants "could not have looked upon their
ad as supernatural beings."
Among celestial bodies we find various orders of personages : Tagai and his crew
are mortals transformed, with their canoe, into stars (p. 3). The evening star and the
moon (p. 4) are living individuals with the weaknesses of mortals. The Beizam con-
stellation (p. 270) has an earthly shrine which causes garden produce to be abundant.
316 ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO TORRES STRAITS.
The Dogai star, which is supposed to be very powerful and to act malevolently towards
mankind (p. 271), is regarded as an evilly-disposed personage who could readily be
converted into a god, but, judging (so far as our information goes) from an absence of
prayer or offerings, this step does not appear to have been taken.
I am inclined to believe that neither among the Western nor the Eastern
Islanders has the idea of a definite god been evolved. They have, I admit, come very
close to the conception, but do not appear to have taken the final step, and I am
tempted to connect this omission with the absence of a definite and powerful chief-
tainship (for the mamooses had little real rank or authority, the government being
essentially in the hands of the old men), hence there was no autocratic social type
upon which the incipient demigods could be modelled and thereby be transformed into
actual deities.
We did not discover in Torres Straits anything like an All-Father or Supreme
Being.
CAMBRIDGE : PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A. AT THK UNIVERSITY PRESS.
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate I
-M
O.
.
a -*
&= A
Q
—
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate II
o
8
H
•4
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate III
O
fl
CO
••c
is
I
I
'S
1
"3
o
I
•s
'S
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate IV
FIG. 1. Irado and her basket (pp. 50—52).
FIG. 2. The Barat stone at Kingob (p. 42).
FIG. 3. The shrine of Zabaker (p. 20).
FIG. 4. Ai geres and her basket (p. 212).
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate V
I
FIG. 1. Pager in front of the village of Sebeg, the zera
market are seen in the distance (p. 133).
FIG. 2. The Au kosher in their cave (p. 279).
Flo. 3. '/.(Hi netir lit Danuicl, Dauar (pp. ">. 5(11.
Fro. 4. Markep at Waperered, Dauar (p. 56).
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate VI
FIG. 1. Kol (p. 11).
Fia. 3. Stone top illustrating the story of
Geigi (pp. 16, 17).
FIG. 2. Ter-pijii Ti'r- srln'r*i'l»-r (p. 8).
Fin. 4. Gawer (cf. PI. III. figs. 1, 2; p. 28).
Fin. 7. Aijer (pp. 2, 6.9, 11).
FIG. 5. Front view of Kaperkaper (p. 53).
FIG. G. Back view of Kaperkaper.
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate VII
FIG. 1.
Fin. (i. Head of a sole from Las (p. 235).
Fio. 2.
Fig. 1, three-quarter
front, Fig. 2, left
side, and Fig. 3,
front views of the
skull of a fish, r/u-u
lur, carved out of
coral (p. 234).
!• i I. •). I'epker (p. 5).
Fro. 4. Skull of one of the Carangida?, probably
a Seriola (p. 234).
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate VIII
B
I
71
c
*+/
"I
S
Q
I
X
a
<u
Q
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate IX
FIG. 2. FIG. 3.
FIGS. 1 — 5. Doiom, or Rain charms (p. 194).
l'i<:. •"». Doiom. This
Fig. and Fig. 3 are said
to come from Mahuiag,
but must have been
made in Mer.
I. 4.
6. Gasu and his rain shrine (p.. 195).
Fie;. 7. Package containing </<II<H» un 1 lukup (p. 198).
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate X
Fio. 1. Head of Kudar (p. 22).
Fios. 2, 3. Tit, a Garden charm (p. 212).
an*
^^l^^^^^
FIG. 4. Sain, a sign of taboo (p. 249). Fio. 5. Sabi, a sign of taboo (p. 249). FIG. fi. Yam stone, lewer kep (p. 212).
L
Fi<;. 7. Yam stone, leicer kep. Fio. 8. Lewer kep (p. 212).
Fio. 9. Sorcery stone, id war (p. 234).
flat. 10. 11. 12. Sorcery stones, icitcar (p. 234).
Fie,. 13. H'iirnr (p. 234).
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate XI
FIG. 1 (p. 194).
FIG. 2 (p. 194).
FIG. 3. "Serpaker" (pp. 194, 195). Fio. 4 (p. 194).
;c^
Fn;. "> (p. 1!M).
Fui. G (p. l'.r>).
Itoioiii or Rain ch«rnis.
Fio. 7 (p. 1 '.'">).
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate XII
FICI. 1. linger, Fire charm (p. 202).
FIG. 4. liiKjer, Fire charm (p. 202).
Fia. 2. Bager, Fire charm (p. 202). Km. 'A. liin.trr. Fire charm (p. 202i.
FIG. 7. Eager, Fire charm (p. 202). FIG. 8. liager, Fire charm (p. 2O2>.
Kiii. ."). Hiujrr, Fire cliarm ()). 202).
FIG. 6. Itaijer, Fire charm (p. 202).
Fm. II. A ;n/,' (p. 2Sfi).
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate XIII
FIG. 1. Tabu, or snake charm, to kill rats (p. 220).
FKJ. 5 (p. 2I)
n.s. (i. 7. s Hi 207).
inatltih, tobacco cliarnis.
•»
FIGS. 2, 3. Birolriro zogo (p. 211).
Fin. 4. Naror, l/irohiro zmjo (p. 211).
Fia. 9. Letri-r l;?i> :i>iin, yam charm (p. 212).
I i< . 10. Basket of fruit from the l-'.nnu ziii/ii (.•!'. PI. III. fig. i ; p. 'Jn:; .
Fr<i. 11. Ketui k.-p logo, vn-u charm (p. 212).
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate XIV
FIG. 2. Vru kerem, Sorcery stone (p. 234).
FIG. 1. A garden zole (pp. 212-13).
FIG. 3. ilokein. Hat charm (p. 220).
FIG. 4. Magical stone of uncertain use (p. 235).
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate XV
CO £
a
•S
O
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
i a
Plate XVI
Siibagorar, Turtle-shell ornaments worn by brides. Fio. 6. A fish-hook (p. 114).
15
16
17
21
11 12 13 14
Ter or Luper, Bodkins worn l>y
brides (p. 114).
18 19 20
0, Shell pendants worn by brides (p. 114).
23
Fish-bone pendants worn by
brides (p. 114).
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate XVII
Fift. 1. " Wasikor,"the sacred Main drum, and two Malu stone-headed clubs (pp. 43,296).
Fio. 3. Zogok«dik(p.%)6). FIG. 4. Zogo kadik (p. 296).
FIG. 2. Zogo kadik (pp. 43, 296).
FIG. 6. Chest pendant
worn by the k'esi of
FIG. .). Belt worn by the Beizam boat (p.
the A-fsi of the J3ei- 292).
zniii Iifxti (p. 292).
Fio. 7. Xtisi saiiad (p. 295).
FIG. 9. Stone club used by the zogo le to strike the kesi (p. 311).
Fio. 8. Decorated human lower-jaw worn during the
Main ceremonies (p. 294).
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate XVIII
Fin. 1. Mummy of an infant from
Uga (p. 137).
Fio. 2. Mummy of a child from
Uga (p. 137).
FIG. 3. Pop le op. Funeral mask (p. 135).
Fio. 4. Pop le op, Funeral mask (p. 135).
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate XIX
a
tc
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate XX
FIGS. 1, 2. Lar, Fish charms (p. 217).
FIGS. 5, 6, 7, 8. Deyer, Dugong charms (p. 217).
FIG. 3. Gluts, Fish charm (p. 218).
Fio. 4. Garom, Fish charm (p. 218).
Fio. !). Siriam nam zole, Turtle charm, side view.
Fia. 10. Siriam nam zole, front view (p. 21fi).
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate XXI
Fio. 1. Model of the Shrine of Waiet (p. 278).
FIGS. 3, 4. Omabar, Love charms (p. 221).
Fio. 6. Omabar, Love charm (p. 221).
;
Fw. 2. Model of a Saibri lu (p. a-J!i).
Fiu. 13. Pugi, Wooden image of a sea-snake
used as a sign of taboo (p. 249).
Fm. 5. Omabar, Love charm
(p. 221).
FIG. 8. Kog In, Love charm (p. 221).
' '
Fios. 11, 12. Zogo baur
(p. 215).
Fin. 7. KOIJ lu. Love charm (p. 221).
Fios. 9, 10. Neur madub (p. -)-)-)).
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate XXII
FIGS. 1, 2. Isau mani, Wooden figures coated with wax,
representing a man and a woman, used in malevolent
magic (p. 231).
FIG. 3, Ganomi. FIG. 4, Ginamai. FIG. 5, Bom.
Ail viz (p. 258).
\
FIG. 6. Waiet (p. 277).
FIG. 7. Model of a Dogai mask worn in the Dogaira
irrfywr (p. 20!)).
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate XXIII
3
£
-3
a
1
^L
rj
r3
'a
o
E-i
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate XXIV
Fio. 4. Turtle-shell pendant represent
a sting-ray, tapim (p. 256).
Fio. 1. Ornament worn by the Geregere le (p. 295). FHI. '1. Ornament worn by the Gereijere If (|). 2J
Fio. 3. Ornament worn by the Geregere le (p. 295).
Fio. 5. Masked dancer painted on a stone top (p. 256).
nl n wnnrlon mnHpl nf n alinrk- 111 ''."l
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate XXV
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate XXVI
fir
FIG. 1. The Ceremony at Las (p. 308).
Km. '1. Miimiy Islanders eager for barter, from an engraving by H. Melville (p. 187).
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate XXVII
> *=-
FIG. 1. Heap of Malu le, drawn by Pasif(p. 313).
Via. 2. Terer (p. 132).
•'
FIG. 3. Tur tirinm le (p. 143).
FKI. 4. Terei mask Fio. 5. Tur tiriam
(p. 143). /« (p. 143).
Fia. 6. Had lu, consisting of a pit tonar
and boar's tusk (p. 158).
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate XXVIII
-
Fio. 1. Rehearsal of the Malu dirge (p. 145).
FIG. 2. Decorated skull, as used for divination
(pp. 126, 148, 268).
FIG. 3. Wiwar, Sorcery stone (p. 234). Fin. 4. Wiwur, Sorcery stone (p. 234).
I-'ui. t>. Turtle-shell mask (p. 289).
FKI. 5. Creseentic ornament worn in a war dance (p. 277).
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate XXIX
Fio. 3. Three phases of the Ceremonial Dance of the Bomai-Malu zogo le (pp. 306 — 7).
Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI.
Plate XXX
_
MAY 1 2 1983
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