lity or courage or
force of character, or perhaps capacity for palavering, has succeeded
in securing for himself a predominating influence in the community.

The word _imbele_ and certain other words are used to designate the
closeness or otherwise of the connection between individuals. _Imbele_
signifies the close connection which exists between members of one
clan, and a man will say of another member of his clan that he is
his _imbele_. The word _bilage_ signifies a community connection,
which is recognised as being not so close as a clan connection;
and a man will say of another, who is outside his own clan, but is a
member of his own community, that he is his _bilage_. The expression
_a-gata_ signifies absence of any connection, and a man will refer
to a member of another community, Mafulu, Kuni, Ambo, or anything
else (there is no distinction between these in the use of the term)
as being _a-gata_, thereby meaning that he is an outsider.

This brings me to the question of the use by me of the term "clan" to
designate the intimate association above referred to. To begin with,
there is a considerable difference between the situation produced by
the clan system, if it may be regarded as such, of Mafulu and that of,
say, Mekeo, where one finds several clans occupying one village, and
where members of one clan may be scattered over several more or less
distant villages; though this latter difference might perhaps arise in
part from natural geographical causes, the flat lowlands of the Mekeo
people being highly favourable to inter-village communication over
their whole areas, and to the holding of their recognised and numerous
markets, whilst it may almost be assumed that such intercommunication
would be more restricted, at all events in days gone by, among the
Mafulu inhabitants of the mountains.

Then again in Mafulu there are no clan badges, nor are there any
realistic or conventional representations of, or designs which can
to my mind be possibly regarded as representing, or having had their
origin in the representation of, animals, birds, fishes, plants,
or anything else. As regards this, however, it may be mentioned
that the Mafulu people are very primitive and undeveloped, and have
not in their art any designs which could readily partake of this
imitative character, their artistic efforts never producing curves,
and indeed not going beyond geometric designs composed of straight
lines, rectangular and zig-zag p