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

' WARFARE 217
cotton tree. It consists of two strings, one end of each being
fastened to the pouch of thicker cord in which the round, black
sling stone is carried (cf. Speiser, 1923, pl. 61, ï¬Åg. I). When
using his sling a man attaches one of the cords to the little_ ï¬Ånger
of his right hand, holds the other between the thumb and index
of the same hand, puts the stone into the pouch, and then after
swinging the whole very rapidly round and round, releases the
cord which he is holding so that the stone shoots off with great
force. V
These appear to be the only weapons of offence known to the
people of Malekula before the introduction of ï¬Årearms. Weapons
of defence are entirely absent, neither shields nor any kind of
armour being known. It is interesting, however, that in former
days, a man of the south-west when going into a district other
than his own to kill an enemy, used sometimes to go disguised.
A special kind of costume called Zimas was worn which covered
the wearer from head to foot. Over the head was put a mask
of tree-fern wood, in which great slanting eyes had been cut]-;
covering the upper part of the body in such a way as to leave
the arms free was a waistcoat of mmi raw bark and hanging below
this a skirt of banana leaves reaching nearly to the ground. In
such a disguise a man could be fairly conï¬Ådent that when he
had killed his foe, he would not be recognized.“ It seems possible
that the limas was believed to have a certain magical efficacy,
as well as the purely practical one of disguise. Certainly in
Seniang magic was invoked to ensure the safety of warriors -by
hiding them from their opponents, for special rites were performed
by them which rendered them invisible to their enemies and so
made it possible for them to creep up to and effectively ambush
the latter without themselves running any great" danger. It
may benoted here that this same magic is used by a would-be
adulterer to make himself invisible to the husband of whom he
intends to make a cuckold.
TI-IE CAUSES or WAR
As we have already said, the causes of war between villages
or clans of the same district were adultery, especially with the
' {This limas mask is quite unlike the masks which belong to the Nalau./an
society. A. B. D.
’ The same kind of disguise is used in Ranon district, Ambrym Island.-
A. B. D.
mm .. _ _ , _,_,_,_,_~. My
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