from all the dependent villages sat in one group round the chief, who now had moved to the official reception ground, in front of his lisiga. Their followers, in company with the chief’s henchmen, and other inhabitants of Omarakana, squatted all over the baku (central place), engaged in conversation. The talk in each group was of the same subjects, and did not differ much from the conversation, I had heard from the chief on his arrival. The newly acquired armshells were handed round, admired, named, and the manner of their acquisition described.
Next day, several soulava (spondylus shell necklaces) were brought to Omarakana by the various men from neighbouring villages to the West, and ceremonially offered to To’uluwa (see Plates LXI, LXII, and Frontispiece). This was, in each case a vaga (opening gift), for which the giver expected to receive his yotile (clinching gift) at once from the store of mwali. In this case we see the influence of chieftainship in the relation between Kula partners. In the inland Kula of Kiriwina, all gifts would be brought to To’uluwa, and he would never have to fetch or carry his presents. Moreover, he would always be given and never give the opening gift (vaga); while his gift would invariably be a yotile. So that the chief sometimes owes a Kula gift to a commoner, but a commoner never owes a gift to a chief. The difference between the rules of procedure here and those of an uvalaku overseas expedition is clear: in a competitive overseas expedition, valuables for exchange are never carried by the visiting party, who only receive gifts and bring them back home; in the inland Kula, the determining factor is the relative social position of the two partners. Gifts are brought to the man of superior by the man of inferior rank, and the latter has also to initiate the exchange.
The following entry is quoted literally from my notes, made in Omarakana, on November the 13th, 1915. “This morning, the headman of Wagaluma brought a bagido’u (fine necklace). At the entrance to the village (it is Omarakana), they (the party) halted, blew the conch shell, put themselves in order. Then, the conch shell blower went ahead, the men of highest rank took the stick with the bagido’u, a boy carrying the heavy wooden bell pendant on a kaboma (wooden dish).” This requires a commentary. The ceremonial way of carrying the spondylus shell necklaces is by attaching each end to a stick, so that the necklace hangs down with the pendant at its lowest point (see Frontispiece and Pl. LXI and LXII). In the case of very long and fine necklaces, in which the pendant is accordingly big and heavy, while the actual necklace is thin and fragile, the pendant has to be taken off and carried apart. Resuming the narrative:—“The headman approached To’uluwa and said: ‘Agukuleya, ikanawo; lagayla lamaye; yoku kayne gala mwali.’ This he said in thrusting the stick into the thatch of the chief’s house.” The words literally mean: ‘My kuleya (food left over), take it; I brought it to-day; have you perhaps no armshells?’ The expression ‘food left over,’ applied to the gift was a depreciating term, meaning something which is an overflow or unwanted scrap. Thus he was ironically depreciating his gift, and at the same time implying that much wealth still remained in his possession. By this, in an oblique manner, he bragged about his own riches, and with the last phrase, expressing doubt as to whether To’uluwa had any armshells, he threw a taunt at the chief. This time the gift was returned immediately by a fine pair of armshells.
It was in connection with the same expedition that the little exchange between two of the chief’s wives took place, mentioned before (in Chapter XI, Division II, under 4) and one or two more domestic Kula acts were performed, a son of To’uluwa offering him a necklace (see Plates LXI and LXII) and receiving a pair of armshells afterwards. Many more transactions took place in those two days or so; sounds of conch shells were heard on all sides as they were blown first in the village from which the men started, then on the way, then at the entrance to Omarakana, and finally at the moment of giving. Again, after some time another blast announced the return gift by To’uluwa, and the receding sounds of the conch marked the stages of the going