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

THE NIMANGKI TLEL SOCIETY 459
after which they were once more lowered to the ground. A man
who belonged to a higher rank then ascended the naghalar and
dubbed the candidate with the new title which he had purchased.
There followed a short dance performed on the platform to the
accompaniment oi the village gongs below. This being ended,
the Nelan dance, nuunien, was danced on the ground. The
men revolved in a line around the gongs, while the wife of the
Mugh nm Nelan, decorated with the scarlet flowers of the wild
ginger thrust into her mat skirt at the back, danced in the rear.
The problem which presents itself is what, if any, is the
relation of the Nelan to the Nimmtgki Tlel and of both to the
Nalau/am. That the first two are both quite distinct from the
ordinaly Nimzmgki is certain, and it seems equally ccrtain that
despite the differences between them the Nelan and Nimangki
Tlel are the same institution. According to the people of Lagalag
an association (whose name is not recorded) similar to their
Nelanextended down the east coast of Malckula as far as Pangkutnu
district, but was not found farther north than T autu Point, nor
as far cast as the islands of Uripiv and Uri. This seems to
indicate that the Nalaum and Nilan of the Big Nambas and
Small Nambas is regarded by the men of Lagalag as different
from the Nelan. It is conceivable, however, that their denial
of such an institution extending northwards into these districts
may have been due to their ignorance of the more sacred rites
of their neighbours. On the east coast of Malekula, as we have
seen, an important society is the Ruan, and it is signiï¬Åcant that
asfa part of the initiation into this the candidates are beaten
with the leaves of the nettle-tree. Though this is by no means
conclusive it does suggest strongly that the Rmm of Scnbarei
is similar to the Nelan of Lagalag. We already know, however,
that it is considered by the natives to be the same as the Nulau/an
of Mewun. We are therefore faced with two possible theories:
either the Nalawan of Scniung is found with diverse variations
throughout the whole of Malekula and in Ambrym or else it is
found everywhere in Malekula except in one region in the north-
west Where a different society exists, a society which is also
found along a part of the east coast presumably side by side with
the Rmm. Quite apart from the consideration of probabilities,
which are notoriously dangerous as guides in such matters, two
facts suggest that the ï¬Årst theory is the more tenable one. The