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

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ECONOMIC LIFE I81
Navï¬Ål nin nitemah ,'
, , nevongarah ;
, , nmmglam;
, , 'net6mbwetan,'
, mial ;
, bwolonggo m/Mr ,'
, nesesaman.
Navï¬Ål nin nnaian approximates to our month of August,
which marks the beginning of the agricultural year, when the
larger trees are felled and the ground is cleared preparatory to
planting. The outward sign by means of which the people
adjudge that the time for this has come is the flowering of the
nenmra shrub. The yams take about six months from the
time of planting until they are ready to be harvested in apparently
the month called mwfll nin mranglam. The preceding month,
when last year's stores are almost exhausted and this yea.r‘s
not yet garnered, is said to be the month oi " little food â€ù (navfll
m'n nenmgamh). The interpretation of the notes is not absolutely
certain, for to the last month of all, naval nesesavian, is appended
the note “ take out yams â€ù, and in this it corresponds to the
last Mewun month, nilene nan maringgrmggo, and yet Deacon
states deï¬Ånitely, in another passage, that yams are harvested
about six months after they have been planted. Further, we
know that in Mewun the Nogha of Melpmes,1 a rite intimately
connected with the harvest, is celebrated in Nilene Nawi, which
corresponds (as regards position in the sequence), with navul
win neranglam.
At the beginning of August the whole village devotes itself
to the work of preparing the ground, the men doing the more
arduous tasks, the women the lighter ones. It is the practice
of everyone, including often members of neighbouring villages
who have come to offer their services, to work on each person’s
garden in turn, clearing away and buming the timber and
underbrush. In return, the man whose garden it is gives the
workers presents of pigs, yams, tobacco, and other goods, and
next day he joins them again to clear another man’s ground,
receiving in his turn a like reward.“ Thus we see that although
* For the meaning at the word Noghv and an account of the Nagha rites sec
Chapter xx,
7 It must be noted that those who help a man to make a special garden
for growing food tor a N'i'ma'ngki celebration do not receive immediate payment
as described above, but are recompensed at the nar/6m0é'n'an feast, which is
held when the crops are ready (see Chap. XII).—C. H, W.