, one, two or three, according to the size of the canoe. This is the place where the lilava is put on the platform, and where are placed the best food, not to be eaten till the arrival in Dobu, and all valuable trade articles. After that central division, the same divisions, as in the first part are met in inverse order (see Plate XXXIX).
When the canoe is going to carry much cargo, as is always the case on an expedition to Dobu, a square space is fenced round corresponding to the gebobo part of the canoe. A big sort of square hen-coop, or cage, is thus erected in the middle of the canoe, and this is full of bundles wrapped up in mats, and at times when the canoe is not travelling, it is usually covered over with a sail. In the bottom of the canoe a floor is made by a framework of sticks. On this, people can walk and things can rest, while the bilgewater flows underneath, and is baled out from time to time. On this framework, in the gebobo, four coco-nuts are placed, each in the corner of the square, while a spell is recited over them. It is after that, that the lilava and the choice food, and the rest of the trade are stowed away. The following spell belongs to the class which is recited over the four coco-nuts.
Gebobo Spell. “My father, my mother … Kula, *mwasila*.” This short exordium, running in the compressed style proper to magical beginnings, is rather enigmatic, except for the mention of the Kula and *mwasila*, which explain themselves. The second part is less obscure: “I shall fill my canoe with *bagido’u*, I shall fill my canoe with *bagiriku*, I shall fill my canoe with *bagidudu*, etc.” All the specific names of the necklaces are enumerated. The last part runs as follows: “I shall anchor in the open sea, and my renown will go to the Lagoon, I shall anchor in the Lagoon, and my renown will go to the open sea. My companions will be on the open sea and on the Lagoon. My renown is like thunder, my treading is like earthquake.”