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

252 MALEKULA -4
must run the gauntlet. He steps into the dark interior, is seized
by the ï¬Årst two men, and whipped severely. In his bewilderment
and pain he passes on, thinking and hoping that that is all,
only to be caught by the next two men and thrashed in like
manner. And so he goes from one pair of men to the next, and
is only allowed to escape at the far end of the house where the
two lines of his tormenters stop. Meanwhile, to add to the
candidates’ terror and dismay, bullroarers are swung from hidden
places all about, both within and without the house, making
a weird sound.
The bullroarer in this part of the country is called naourzmr
mialang, which means “ the ear-slitter ", or, perhaps, " the slit
ear “.1 There are two varieties oi these: a long one measuring
from about 2 it. 6in. to 3 feet, called " The Mother " (s’nen),
and a small sharply pointed one some eight inches long, called
“ The Child â€ù (mzm) (see Pl. XVIIB). The large one is whirled
round horizontally at about the level of the head. The small
one, attached, like a ï¬Åsh on a line, to a stout stake, is drawn from
one side to the other in quick, impulsive swoops in front of the
performer. It emits a shrill whinr at the lowest point of each
swoop, not a continuous humming as does “ the mother ".
Another name for the big one is nitemah tokhtakh " the ghost that
abides " or " the ghost that waits â€ù, and the small one is some-
times called murvaal “ The Warrior It is said that the lads
are told that the latter is the voice of a great ï¬Åghter of the past,
who is returning to " killâ€ù them, while the big bullroarer is a
ghost who will come and slit their ears. The story which the
women are expected to believe is that the bullroarers are the
voice of a ghost who, enticed by the smell of blood, comes nosing
round the incision wounds. These -instruments are very sacred ;
they may not be seen by unincised boys nor by women, and the
real nature of the sounds is only revealed to the lads on the
last day of their seclusion.
When the operation and the beating of the candidates are
over, they remain within the amel naavavim for twenty days.
For the ï¬Årst two days their wounds are bathed regularly with
the infusion of nughunsaah and nitdmbweli leaves mentioned
above. After this there is no further rnedecining, but the guardian
1 Cf. in Seniang, where the bnllroarer is called “ mi/in or or 1’l(7A?l'i)Zg " meaning
“the female ear-slitter ", or "woman slitting ear/’—A. B. D. (p. 462):
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