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

346 MALEKULA '
stitched together (Fig. 19b), while the nau na-mbzmgon
nivongan ii/ah is a much wider belt, cut at one end so as
to form four separate tassels which are again edged with a
yellow fringe (Fig. Igc).
Another nisit tlel is a ï¬Ållet or head-band called mm llel. It
carries with it very great prestige and is the same as the mtel
mulun/an of Seniang, which, it will be remembered, was obtained
from Lambumbu for candidates entering Nu/zlvel and higher
grades. The arm-band, called in Seniang nimbinben and there
purchased afresh at every rise in rank, is known as Mimum in
the north, and is, it seems, acquired only once, generally in
connection with the title Tovtdp.
As with the other objects, so too with the ï¬Åres of the
Nimangki of Larnhurnbu ; they are not correlated with
any special name or object, but in effect they do (or rather
did) to some extent stratify society. Formerly, before the
Nimangki had become largely disorganized as a result of
the depopulation of the district, four ï¬Åres were distinguished:
naamb luv Mghe, naamb ievi mint, naamb miliin, and
mmmb min/Mu. Of these mzamb 1m'li1'n and naumb mlivafu
alone survive, and the latter has almost fallen into disuetude,
for there were in I926 only two men living who had the right
to eat at it, and for the sake of companionship they had joined
the common ï¬Åre miliin. Ruhvam belongs exclusively to members
of the highest ranks, those bearing the tltlc Rhus Nevat, or one
yet more exalted. Here we meet with another signiï¬Åcant
difference between the Nimangki as it is iound in Seniang and in
Lambumbu. In the south it is fundamentally a democratic
institution ; any man who can accumulate the necessary wealth
can attain as high as he chooses, and though, as was pointed out,
a prosperous man could expedite the advancement of his sons,
there was no system by which a child could claim membership
of any degree as a birthright. In Lambumbu on the other hand,
chieftainship, although undoubtedly inconceivable apart from
the possession oi full Nimangki dignity, and though built up by
the Nimangki, transcends the constitution of this society and
has become, for all practical purposes, the prerogative and
heritage of one or two families who have the prestige of a line of
chieftainship behind them in each of the small areas which go
to make up the district. Thus the sons of a man of Rus Nevat
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