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

264 MALEKULA ~ / '
similar to those of Laravat and Northern Lambumbu, is carried
out. If any boy is seen to be drooping or closing his eyes he is
at once startled or kicked into wakefulness again, This dance
and the " hoaxes " are continued throughout the period‘ of
seclusion, but with less intensity than during the ï¬Årst week.
In performing nilit the men line up inside the ghamal bagho,
holding thick barnboos and move round with a slow and solemn
tread, striking the bamboos on the ground at every second step,
exactly in the manner described in the account of the incision
rites of Laravat. The novices meanwhile crouch up against
the walls for fear of being kicked or struck. When one band
of men is tired another will take its place, and so the dance is
kept up for a long time. People from neighbouring villages
come to take part, the different villages dancing on different
nights. The approach of such a group of visitors is heralded
by wild singing and yelling to strike terror into the boys. When
they have ï¬Ånished their task these strangers are liberally rewarded
by the guardians with an abundance of food. In order to awe
and frighten the boys still further a number of carvings of birds,
such as the m'mbel hawk, are made by the men and fastened
to the top of the house posts inside the ghamal. These are so
high up that the boys cannot make out whether they are alive
or only carvings, nor quite what they are, and the dubut add to
their mystification.
The most terrifying experiences which the mugh vel have to
go through, however, are the “ hoaxes â€ù referred to above.
Apart from their effect of frightening the boys, it is not quite
clear what their real purpose is, but in Deacon's opinion “ the
importance of bagha lies, not in the circumcision itself, but in
the series of performances or ' hoaxes ’ which take place during
the thirty days’ seclusion". Some of them are undoubtedly like
those of Laravat, connected with ghosts, but others would seem
to be nothing more than trials and tests of endurance for the
novices. This last is particularly true of the " hoaxes" per-
formed during the day time. Of those which are carried out at
night the following are typical.
In one a man is carefully dressed up in banana leaves and
creepers so that his body is completely covered. His head,
especially, is made to appear like a tangled mass of creeper
ropes. He is then decked out in all kinds of scarlet flowers such

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