Page:The sexual life of savages in north-western Melanesia.djvu/398

 the magician of glory, the to'uributu, proceeds in his own house to manufacture fame for his community. He is the same man who, on the first day of the festivities, a month ago, has performed the important magic of the conch- shells and the buried food. In the morning he has also prepared the scene of the dances by ritual sweeping of the baku (central place) with a charmed broom. Now comes his most important performance. On a large mat, folded over so that it encloses them, he places a drum, a conch-shell, and a few pieces of reed (dadam). Into the open mouth of this improvised magic bag he then chants his spells. The formula unfortunately I was not able to obtain.

His task is completed as the dancers are ready, fully dressed and waiting to start (pl. 79) the lapula or final dance. He gives one of the drummers the magic drum, and another man takes the charmed conch-shell.

The dancers, the singers, and the drummers now put themselves into position, ready for the signal. This is given by the magician of glory and one or two assistants. They run from the village street into the central place with the magic reed in their hands. Each of them must have both his hands upon the reed, which is pointing towards the ground. They strike the ground at intervals with the reed, while they utter a high-pitched scream (igovasi). Arrived at the opposite end of the place, they turn about and throw the reed into the air. The man who catches the reed scores a point in this contest for renown, and will be spoken of all over the district when the feast is gossiped about and its heroes mentioned.