The word vineylida suggests the former belief, as vine—female, lida—coral stone.

Professor Seligman has described the belief in similar beings on the North-East Coast of New Guinea. At Gelaria, inland of Bartle Bay, the flying witches can produce a double, or “sending,” which they call labuni. “Labuni exists within women, and can be commanded by any woman who has had children …. It was said that the labuni existed in, or was derived from, an organ called ipona, situated in the flank, and literally meaning egg or eggs.” op. cit., p. 640. The equivalence of beliefs here is evident.

Not all the spells which I have obtained have been equally well translated and commented upon. This one, although very valuable, for it is one of the spells of the old chief Maniyuwa, and one which had been recited when his corpse was brought over from Dobu by his son Maradiana, was obtained early in my ethnographic career, and Gomaya, Maradiana’s son, from whom I got it, is a bad commentator. Nor could I find any other competent informant later on, who could completely elucidate it for me.