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

220 MALEKULA
upon and requested to act as leader by distant villages which
are embroiled, and even by villages of a district other than his
own. Such a request would, of course, only be made and granted
if the village which made it were neutral or friendly towards,
and if the enemy were commonly opponents of or at least not
on good terms with, the clan of the mar 1/Ml. For loyalty to
clan and village is always expected to be paramount. In return
for his help such a war-leader receives ample recompense‘ and,
if his leadership has been successful, his prestige and glory are
GREATly enhanced. Even where there is such a professional
leader, however, the ï¬Åghting forces do not appear to be organized
to any GREAT extent. Successful ï¬Åghting depends rather upon
swiftness and clash than upon strategy, and the qualities which
mark out a man as a mar vaal are not cunning and forethought,
but fearlessness and a capacity for supplying morale.
How far magic plays a part in the preparations for war is not
certain. Mention has already been made of the “ invisibility "
magic which every warrior may perform for himself, but we
know nothing of any rites carried out by the ï¬Åghting group as a
body, nor is there any mention of spells muttered over the
accoutrernents of the men who are going forth. It is interesting,
however, that despite this apparent lack cl magical preparation,
every man who is about to go on u war expedition takes certain
precautions lest he should not return alive. Thus before going
to ï¬Åght he will have a long talk with either his father or brother,
telling him the whole inner complexity of his life ; all his wishes
and desires and hopes; of his unrepaid debts and unfulï¬Ålled
obligations and engagements, especially as regards his children,
his wife, his friends, and his mistresses. He will ask his brother
or father to care for his children, to make certain gifts to his
friends. In short, he will make all arrangements lor his departure
from this life, “ iu/21 mews new mossu! â€ù Then, having
unburdened himself of the weight of his cares and entanglements
in this world, he will go with an easier heart to the ï¬Åght. This
same consciousness of the possibility, or probability, of death
is evinced also in the fact that on the night before going forth
on a war expedition, far from there being any tabu on sexual
intercourse, a man will almost always cohabit with his wife,
saying to himself that perchance this may be the last time that
1 We are not told what form this recompense tmkes.—C. 1-1. w.
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I ii.