destination. This may involve two or three sets of messengers, but
occasionally one or two of the original messengers may go the whole
way. These croton leaves are delivered to the chiefs of the several
clans of the invited community, and they are tied to the front central
posts of the village _emone_, the true _emone_ of the chiefs village,
and, as regards other villages, the _emone_ of the sub-chiefs. [69]

The exact date of the feast depends upon the guests, who may come in
a month after receiving the croton leaves, or may be later; and the
community giving the feast do not know on what date their guests will
arrive until news comes that they are actually on their way, though
in the meantime messengers will be passing backwards and forwards
and native wireless telegraphy (shouting from ridge to ridge) will
be employed.

As soon as the formal invitation has been sent the people of the
community giving the feast begin to bring in the yams from the gardens,
which they do day by day, singing as they do so; and these yams are
stored away in the houses as they are brought in. When the yams have
all been collected, they are brought out and spread in one, two,
or three long lines along the centre of the village open space. The
owner of each post knows which are his own yams, and they will go to
his post. When the yams are laid out on the ground, the chiefs inspect
them, and select the best ones, which are to be given to the chiefs
of the community invited to the dance. To these selected yams they
tie croton leaves as distinguishing marks. Then each man stands by
his own yams, and has a boy standing by his own post; each man picks
up his best yams, and whilst holding these they all (only the men with
the yams) begin to sing. The moment the song is over, each man rushes
with his selected best yam to his post, and hands the yam to the boy,
who climbs up the post, and hangs up the yam. After this they hang
the rest of the yams, each man running with them to the post, and
giving them to the boy, who climbs up and hangs the yam whilst the man
runs back for another, the performance being all in apparent disorder
and there being no singing. Some of the best-shaped yams are hung to
little cross-sticks about 3 or 4 feet long, which the boys then and
there attach to those bamboo stems which have their top branches and
leaves left upon them, the sticks being attached just below these
branches. These selected yams will include those wit