districts being sub-divided, a small ring being formed within it, and each class of articles moving on it in an opposite direction; or whether some other arrangement has been adopted. Again, one of my informants told me that some of the vaygu’a went directly from the Loughlans South to Misima, but I was unable to verify this statement and this whole part of the Kula must remain with a sketchy outline.
Whatever might be the routes on which the Kula articles travel South from Woodlark Island, there is no doubt whatever that they all, or almost all, converge in the important commercial centre of Tubetube. This small island, according to Professor Seligman, is not even self-supporting as far as food goes; nor are they a greatly industrial community. They are to a great extent engaged in trade, and probably gain part of their support from this activity. “Tubetube has become a trading community, whose inhabitants are recognised as traders and middlemen over a very considerable area, extending westwards … to Rogea and eastward to Murua.”1 Tubetube is known even in the Trobriands as one of the crucial points of the Kula, and it is well known that, whatever happens in the small island in the way of mortuary taboos and big feasts will affect the flow of valuables in Boyowa.
There is no doubt whatever that Tubetube had direct relations with Murua (to use the Tubetube pronunciation of the native name for Woodlark Island) to the North-East, and with Dobu to the North-West. I saw a canoe from the small island beached at Dobu, and in Woodlark I was told that men from Tubetube used to come there from time to time. Professor Seligman also describes in detail the manner and the stages of their sailings to Woodlark Island:
“Their trade route to Murua … was, as they made it, about 120–135 miles. They would usually go during the monsoon, and come back on the trade, as those winds served their itinerary best. Presuming that wind and weather served them throughout the passage, they slept the first night on an island called Ore, a couple of miles or so from Dawson Island. The next night they made Panamoti, the third night they slept at Tokunu (the Alcesters), and by the fourth night, they might reach Murua.”2 This description reminds us very much of the route on which we previously had followed the Sinaketans to Dobu—the same short stages with intermediate camping on sandbanks or islands, the same taking advantage of favourable following winds.