Argonauts of the Western Pacific / An Account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the Archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea

Giyotanawa No. 2.

“Foam, foam, breaking wave, wave! I shall enter into the breaking wave, I shall come out from behind it. I shall enter from behind into the wave, and I shall come out in its breaking foam!”

“Mist, gathering mist, encircling mist, surround, surround me!”

“Mist, gathering mist, encircling mist, surround, surround me, my mast!

Mist, gathering mist, etc. … surround me, the nose of my canoe.

Mist, etc. … surround me, my sail,

Mist, etc. … surround me, my steering oar,

Mist, etc. … surround me, my rigging,

Mist, etc. … surround me, my platform,”

And so on, enumerating one after the other all the parts of the canoe and its accessories. Then comes the final part of the spell:

“I shut off the skies with mist; I make the sea tremble with mist; I close up your mouth, sharks, bonubonu (small worms), ginukwadewo (other worms). Go underneath and we shall swim on top.”

Little is needed as a commentary to this magic. Its beginning is very clear, and singularly well depicts the situation in which it is uttered. The end refers directly to the primary aim of the magic, to the warding off of the Underneath, of the dangerous animals in the sea. The only ambiguity refers to the middle part, where the magical leading words of ‘enveloping by mist’ are associated with a list of names of the parts of the canoe. I am not certain whether this is to be interpreted, in the sense that the toliwaga wants to surround his whole canoe with mist so that it may not be seen by the sharks, etc., or whether, on the contrary, just on the verge of abandoning his canoe, and anxious to cut himself off from its various parts which may turn on him and ‘eat him,’ he therefore wants to surround each of them with mist so that it may be blinded. The latter interpretation fits the above-quoted belief that certain parts of the canoe, especially the carved human figures on the prow-board and the mast, the ribs of the canoe, and certain other parts of its construction, ‘eat’ the shipwrecked men. But again, in this spell, there are enumerated not certain parts, but every part, and that undoubtedly is not consistent with this belief, so the question must remain open.

IV

I have anticipated some of the events of the consecutive narrative of shipwreck, in order to give the two last mentioned magical formulÆ first, and not to have to interrupt the tale of our toliwaga, to which we now return. We left it at the point where, having said his first two kayga’u formulÆ over the ginger and into the lime pot, he embarks, keeping these two things handy, and putting some binabina stones within his reach. From here, his narrative becomes more dramatic. He describes the approaching storm:

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