[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]

PENTECOSTE 2 3 3

We frequently tried to obtain information about
the organization of the family among these natives,
but, being dependent on biche la mar, we made small
progress. My observations were supplemented later
by the Rev. Mr. Drummond, for which I am very
much indebted to him; some of these observations
may be of interest.

The population is divided into two clans—the
Bule and the Tabi. The former is supposed to have
originated from the tridacna shell, the latter from the
taro. Every individual knows exactly to which clan
he belongs, although there are no external signs.
There is a strict rule forbidding marriage within the
clan, and an offence against this law was formerly
punished by death; to this day, even in Christian
districts, marriage within the clan is extremely rare.
N 0 one can change his clan. Children do not belong
to the clan of the father, but to that of the mother,
and property cannot be alienated from the clan.
The father has no rights over his children, and the
head of the family is not the father, but the eldest
brother of the mother, who educates the boys and
- helps them along in the Suque. Land belongs to
the clan, which is like a large family, and indeed
seems a stronger organization than the family itself;
but the clans live together in the villages, and as such
they form a whole with regard to the outside world.
Quarrels between two clans are not so rare as those
inside a clan, and the vendetta does not act inside
the clan, whereas a murder outside the clan must be
avenged. Uncles and aunts within the clan are