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

54 MALEKULA
to this rule. Though Iumoran and Dineur share a sacred place
and a gong-rhythm, intermarriage takes place between the two.
What the position of Taunvamp, the third village of this clan,
may be in respect of marriage rules is not recorded. Between
Vanha and its “ offspring â€ù villages, which compose the only other
clan in this southernmost region, the ordinary rules of clan
exogamy are observed.
All the villages of a single clan are further united in the
possession of a distinctive gong-beat (mzmbwir in Seniang, nambog
in Mewun), which strangely enough is the only name which the
clan possesses. Thus, should one ask : “ What is the characteristic
gong-beat of Vananggalat P â€ù a certain rhythm is given.
Should one ask for the characteristic gong—beat of Mbwiltenemal
the same rhythm is given, the reason being that both these
villages belong to the one “ parent â€ù village Tanari (Wilemp
district) and both have the characteristic gong-beat of Tanari.
These gong-beats consists generally of two or three different
phrases or rhythms combined in a deï¬Ånite order. Theoretically
at least, the gong-beat of each clan is unique. Even with the
large number of clans found in Seniang and Wilemp, this‘ is
quite possible, since the number of permutations of perhaps some
dozen phrases of rhythms taken three at a time is considerable.‘
The following are examples of the gong-beats of several of the
clans of Seniang, of Wilemp, of the coastal district to the south,
and of Mewun :—
(1) Clan with the “ parent â€ù village Looremew :—
2! wiwlwiwlwwi i"
(2) Clan with the “ parent â€ù village Loorveli :—
W ï¬Å repeated ten times in succession, in the form of
L ten triplets.
~_,_»
| 1
V (3) Clan with the “ parent village Loorha :—
=13wi111*l
(4) Clan with the “ parent " village Iurnoran :—
17‘|11717‘11“1“7“7“
1 For an account of these gong-beats and the method of gong signalling
v. below, Chap. XVII. _