om outside communities take part. A
village pig must be provided by the family of each child. Each
of these pigs is killed by the pig-killer under a chiefs platform
grave, or, if no such platform then exists, upon the site of one,
and is cut up. Before the cutting-up, however, the child in each
case stands upon the body of the pig, and whilst he so stands he
is dressed with a feather ornament put over his head, but which,
instead of being tied up in the usual way at the back of the head,
is left with the ends hanging down over his shoulders. The putting
on of this ornament is not a chiefs duty, but is done for each child
by a certain person who has bought the pig from that child's family.

Plate 71 shows a little girl upon whom the perineal band ceremony has
just been performed. She has a string of dogs' teeth over her forehead,
and a belt of dogs' teeth round her waist, an enormous crescent-shell
ornament, some long pigtails, and on her head is the feather ornament,
which hangs down at the sides over her shoulders. Plate 72 is a scene
taken at the feast held in connection with the performance of the
ceremony upon her and some other children.

I could not find out who the person who buys the pig and performs the
ceremony would ordinarily be, nor what motive he has for buying and
paying for a pig which is about to be killed and cut up and distributed
amongst other people; and I am convinced that there must be something
further behind the matter, which I have been unable to ascertain. I
may say that, knowing that among the Roro and Mekeo people a brother
or other male relative of the child's mother takes a prominent part
in the perineal band ceremony, being the recipient of the dog or
pig which is killed, and the person who puts the band upon the boy,
I specially enquired as to any similar relationship on the part
of the person who buys the pig and performs the ceremony among the
Mafulu, but I could find no trace of anything of the sort. [73] Nor,
as already stated, could I find any system of service being rendered
by a boy to his maternal uncle, such as exists among the Koita, [74]
nor anything in the nature of the Koita _Heni_ ceremony, described
by Dr. Seligmann. [75]

It will be seen that this purchasing of the pig by a person who takes
a prominent part in the ceremony affecting an individual appears in
other ceremonies of that nature among the Mafulu.

Following this performance there is a general distribution am