Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 5, 1894.djvu/327

 Legends fro)ii the Woodlarks., 319

the moon, and fire. The natives are closely allied to the Woodlark islanders.

Father Thomassin (p. 389) gives a description of Murua, or Mouiou, as he calls it. The larger central part of the island is hilly and fertile, the lovi^ coral extremities grow only a little tare and some yams and sweet potatoes. Necessity makes the natives of the ends of the island industrious ; a great part of their time is occupied by culti- vation, the rest by fishing, and the superfluous fish which they catch are bartered with the central natives for taro. " These relations between the different tribes have the advantage of maintaining unity among our savages." He also mentions the annual trading voyages in March and November, from the Laughlen Islands ("Nadles") to Murua, to exchange coconuts for taro. " In this exchange the advantage is clearly on the side of the strangers ; but they make thereby an act of submission, and the people of our tribe are accounted their protectors." A pleasing picture is drawn of the sociability and politeness of the people ; but self-interest, vanity, and fear, especially of sorcerers, are at the bottom of all their affability. " A man sold us a turtle in order to be revenged, his enemy inoculated a turtle in the breast, and this did not fail to choke our poor bewitched friend." The funeral customs are thus described (p. 394) : " Sobs, cries, or, more generally, howls, which gradually abate, and end by a lugubrious song, occasionally reach us ; it is the announcement of a death. If the defunct is of low estate they content themselves with exposing him for a couple of days in his hut, during all which time his friends come there to weep, men and women follow one another in turn. The mourners retire, receive a present, and immediately return home as gaily as they came. Burial is the duty of the women ; they hollow a trench in the neighbourhood of the village, there they deposit the dead, and promptly cover it with earth, in order to hasten to eat the funeral feast. If the defunct is a person of quality — a chief — there are several more ceremonies ; no