confidence or allowed to form one of the party. Two years later, when I lived in Oburaka, about half-way between the Northern and Southernmost end of Boyowa, several expeditions from Kitava visited Wawela, a village lying across on the other side of the island, which here is no more than a mile and a half wide; and one or two expeditions left from Wawela for Kitava. The only big expedition which came under my notice was the uvalaku which was to leave some time in April or May, 1916, from Kiriwina to the East. I saw only the preparatory stages, of which the launching was described in Chapter VII.
Let us imagine that we follow the course of this Kiriwinian uvalaku. The first general intimation that it would take place, came after one of the visits which To’ulawa made to Kitava. He had heard there that a considerable quantity of armshells was soon to come to the island, for, as we shall see by the end of this Chapter, such big, concerted movements of valuables along the ring take place from time to time. To’ulawa then and there made arrangements with his chief partner, Kwaywaya, to make an uvalaku, which was to be the means of carrying on the big movement of the mwali. On his return to Omarakana, when the headmen of the other Kiriwinian villages assembled, the plans of the uvalaku were talked over and details arranged. Even in olden days, before the chief’s power was undermined, though he used to take the initiative, and give decisions in important matters, he had to put the case before the other headmen, and listen to what they had to say. Their opinions on the occasion of which we are speaking, would hardly ever be in contradiction to his wishes, and it was decided without much discussion to make the uvalaku in about six months’ time. Soon after, the rebuilding or refitting of the canoes began, in the manner previously described. The only slight difference in the preparations between Kiriwina and Sinaketa lies in the preliminary trade. The Kiriwinians have to go inland to the industrial districts of Kuboma, and they go there every man on his own account, to acquire the articles needed.
It will be best to say here at once all that is necessary about the trade between Kiriwina and Kitava. As these two districts are geologically and in other respects much more similar to one another than Sinaketa and Dobu are, the trade is not of such vital importance, with one notable exception, as we shall see. The articles of subsidiary trade, which a Kiriwinian expedition would carry with them to Kitava, are the following:—wooden combs; various classes of lime pots; armlets, plaited of fern fibre; turtle-shell earrings; mussel shell; coils of lashing creeper (wayugo); plaited fern belts, made originally in the d’Entrecasteaux. Of these articles, the most important are probably the mussel shells, used for scraping and as knives, the various kinds of lime pots, which are a speciality of Kuboma, and last, but not least, the wayugo. I am not quite certain as to whether this creeper is not to be found in Kitava, but as it grows only on marshy soil, it is hardly probable that it would thrive on a high, raised, coral island. In that case, the creeper is certainly the most indispensable of all the trade articles imported into Kitava from the Trobriands.
The Trobrianders import from the smaller islands a class of grass skirt made of coco-nut leaves; exceptionally well finished urn-shaped baskets; small hand-baskets; specially bleached pandanus mats; ornaments made of fragments of conus shell; certain classes of cowrie shell, used for ornamenting belts; ebony lime spatulæ; ebony walking staves; sword-clubs carved in ebony; and an aromatic black paint, made of charred sandal wood. None of these articles is of vital importance, as all of them, though perhaps in slightly different or even inferior quality, are manufactured or found in the Trobriands.
There was one article, however, which, in the olden days, was of surpassing utility to the Trobriand natives, and which they could obtain only from Kitava, though it came originally from further East, from Murua (Woodlark Island). These were the kukumali, or roughly shaped pieces of green-stone, which were then polished